Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-09-11


Going from the depot. at Cold Spring.
Long Island, toward the harbor, the
road winds down hill through q dwarfed
forest, runs alongside a whispering little
brook, and affords glimpses here and
there of broad sheets Of placid water
fringed by tangled thickets. A mill is
passed and several pretty residences.
Then, at "a sudden turn, a beautiful view
opens out of the full width of the val
ley, terminating in tho harbor and the
Sound beyond. Here is the New York
State Fish Hatchery, two little houses.
From the open doors of both houses
float continually aqueous sounds, rip
pies, gurgles. splasheS, and diminutive
waterfalls. Looking inside one sees big
waterproof boots moving about, with big
men in them, who do miraculous things
in the way of squeezing themselves
among long. black troughs. through
which crystalline currents are constantly
coursing swiftly. In the face of the hill.
is aroof covering superintendent Frank
MatherS ocean. He pumps his ocean
up there and keeps It on tap for the
hatching Of salt water fishes.
The superintendent is notable man
sturdy, bushy-browed, with a hearty
voice, sparkling eyes, camping-out COM
plexion, and ON air of just having arrived
from somewhere and being about to
start back in q minute. He courteously
opens theample hood-gates OF his knowl-
edge about fish and their systematized
production.
Tho man who knows anything about
fish that is not already known to Mr..
Mather would be difficult to find, for he
is not only quite familiar with all the
astounding polysyllabic names that seem
to grow in reversed proportion to the
size of the fish. but Is intimate with the
wearers OF the names, knows their
habits, and where t. and them b,
In answer to your correspondent, Mr..
Mather said: I'VE have here facilities
for Matching much fewer eggs than we
should have. The capacity of the estab-
lishment should be doubled at least.
"The practical usefulness of this
method Of enlarging our food supply has
now been demonstrated beyond question,
and it is really a matter OF serious inter-
est to all the people of the State that
this hatchery should be so developed
as to get the greatest possible good from
it," (This is surely quite reasonable.)
"There Is no place in the land so well
adapted by nature as this is for hatch
cry. We have an abundant, ncver-fail-
ing supply of cold fresh water, sufficient
to keep our thirty-two Matching troughs
full all the year through, If we needed
them so. It comes from natural springs
in that hin, SO surprisingly high up that
it is constant wonder to me how those
springs are fed The swift current that
its fall supplies is just what we want in
certain stages of the Matching processes.
"Then by means Of pumping engine
we can have equally handy an ample sup
ply of pure salt water drawn at high
tide as required, and stored in that reser-
voir. Or, at least, we can do so when
the intense cold does not freeze the
water solid in the pipes and burst them
as 1t did last winter, spelling at one fell
blow our most interesting. and, up to
that time highly successful, Matching of
some 1000, 900 cod eggs.
At the side of the lane are wood-bound
milk cans--the reservoir inwhich myraids
of tiny fishes are sent away to stock
lakes, brooks, creeks, rivers, and, bays OF
the State.
uL-cHISd TROUT.
{. Nearly oil tho Matching is done In
Winter" sad Mr.. Mather. Trout, in
which there is most popular Interest
begin spawning in November, and {
nos set through until January. We sc
eggs here from some largo breediD.
trout that wc keep in those ponds out
hatchery at Caledonia, from Maine, and
from Europe.
:. The eggs having been impregnated,
change from the fabby condition III
which they arc extrudcd by tho female
fish. detach themselves from the bottom
OF the pan in which they were gathered,
and grow ! rger and quite hard. Then
they are washed and spread upon wire
Goth Matching trays, the interstices IL
which are large enough for the young
fry, as Matched, to drop through, leaving
the shells on the tray.
Throughout the process Of Matching,
which takes from sixty to eighty days.
according to the temperature of the
water, the eggs must be carefully tended
every day 10 keep them free from sedi-
ment, TO have the temperature OF the
water as cold as possible, and to reg
ulate the current over them just right.
. While Matching is going on the water
only covers the eggs to the depth Of an
inch, but when the young fry have all
appeared, its depth is increased to five
inches. Each little trout, when hatched,
has an abdominal sack Of nutriment,
larger than himself, which he gradually
absorbs- When its yellow bulk is all
gone and he looks like q small semi
transparent pin, not quite an inch long.
he is Immediately hungry, AMI begins
looking for food.
" That is the time when no should be
put out in brook somewhere, to look
out for himself, and where there win be
no sunfish, p:el.crel, or other bigger fish
to look out for him. It takes him forty
or fifty days TO exhaust the magazine
Of provisions With which be comes into
the world.
= Wilh good feeding. at the end Of his
first year he should have grown 10 b.
from four 10 five inches in length. A.