The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-08-21
But It's a True One and It's All
About Hatcheries.
POINTS IN FISH CULTURE
Three Million Eggs Is the Anticipated
Product This Season at the Hatch
cry on Elk Creek Near the Blair
Lakes in Madison County.

question, who would be glad for a lit
tie information. I will venture to tell
them Of what l saw and learned of
fish culture at the hatchery on Elk
creek. near the Blair axes in the
Centennial valley, which valley lies in
the Southwesternmost part OF Madison
county.
To those understanding the process.
I would say. don't read any farther.
for OF course you know a great deal
more about the subject than / could
tell you.
on the 18th of Maya lovely morn
ing-a party of us started from the
lower end of the Upper Red Rock lake
for a days outing and fishing in the
stream near the Blair lakes. some eight
or 10 miles distant. Our route lay along
as lovely a stretch OF country as one
could desire To look upon. Indeed,
this Centennial valley can boast of as
picturesque scenery as any place In
Montana, and needs only to be seen
to be appreciated.
The Red Rock lake-a gem of ma
lures settings about six miles long
and six broad. having capes, BAYS and
peninsulas. like the larger bodies OF
water. and in times of high wind is
covered with white caps-a miniature
fac imile of them.
Its water, like other mountain lakes,
is pure and limpid. with a depth that
has not yet been fathomed. For some
miles our route skirted the edge of the
lake. on whose surface the graceful
swan and bright-hued ducks were en-
joying their morning bath and disport-
ing themselves I'm true aquatic bird
lIyA fnaIsAa TNha r.AYAntaaaa nsgRa an
our right and rose in majesty and
grandeur thousands Of feet above US.
Nowhere in Montana has the writer
seen their counterpart. In some places
they rise almost abruptly from the
gently sloping grassy plain. while 9TH
ers AVE IN undulating, wavy base. in
outline wholly unlike most foothills. yet
serving as stepping stones to the peaks
that tower above them.
We looked with wonder n admira-
ton upon the long stretch of unbroken
meadow, containing thousands Of acres
still owned by Uncle Sam. but used
In summer as pasture by the stockmen
of the valley. Lovely as the trip was,
1t came to an md that we might enjoy
the p1scatorial sports OF the day. The
stream is a small one. fed by innumer-
able springs, and just suited to the
purpose of the hatchery, of which A..
j. Sprague of Leadville, u. S. fish
commissioners was in charge.
James Blair kindly showed us around
the premises. which simply consisted
OF a large tent, without walls. for the
boxes containing the many screens of
pawn, also room for the necessary
work to be done, and the wide shall
low stream in which the fish were
swimming, graceful and brilliant in
their play OF colors-a reflex Of the
rainbow ofttimes they seemed as they
glided out and in before us.
The fish were kept within certain
limits of the stream by means of wire
netting. which pTecluded their escape
and enabled the commissioner to deal
with them by the hundreds. or thou
sands. II need be. The species Of fish
Astounding in the stream n In the
Blair lakes. a mile or two above. Is
the grayling CThymallus signifer),
which weighs a pound or more. and.
perhaps excepting the mountain trout,
is the finest fish i'm which our waters
abound. 1t has fewer bones than the
trout. and by many is esteemed supe-
rior 10 IL. The fish glide innocently
into their enclosure. where they are
easily caught by a hand net and ex-
amined as to the ripeness of the time
OF taking the spawn. which Is deter
mined by the fiexibility OF the lower
under part of the body; IL hard. they
are kept in the stream longer. or until
such time as that part OF the body be-
comes soft and yielding to the touch,
when they are taken out and the fe-
males gently pressed with the hands
to eject the spawn, which are meas
ured in a glass cup and then put into
a new tin pan. In the same
the milt is taken from the male fishes
and carefully mixed with the spawn,
which ~impregnates the eggs, after
which they are placed on fine wire
screens and kept I'm running water for
90 or 2b days, till they eye" and then
they are put on trays of white Canton
flannel. covered with cheese cloth and
moss, shipped in for hat purpose.
when they are ready 10 be sent to
Bozeman. the central hatchery Of the
state. from which point they are ready
10 be shipped 10 any part OF the world
TO stock other waters with our own
finny tribes.
After the fish are thus dealt with they
are returned to the stream safe and
sound as ever, ready for another years
treatment at the hands OF the fish
commissioner. The trays on which the
eggs were placed were shallow. about
an inch or an inch and half in depth.
and perhaps IS inches long by Il inches
wide. These were placed I'm boxes. OF
which there were several. 10 or IL feet
long by two feet deep. making tier
upon tier Of the trays. over which wa
ter was kept flowing, being conducted
To the boxes by means Of pipes leading
from the spring above.
II was estimated that the number
OF spawn taken the day our party Wis
tied the hatchery was about 400. 600.
They are measured in the glass cup
referred 70, the holdings OF which had
been previously determined by several
countings, and taking the average
therefor.
Three million eggs was the anticipat-
ed product OF the seasons work. which
Is, necessarily, a short one. the com
s1oner leaving In the latter part - MAY.
At Henry's lake. still farther IN the
valley some % or 30 miles. a hatchery
is established. in which the mountain
trout are dealt with. yielding up their
spawn 10 stock the waters OF our own
and other countries with their progeny
on looking IN this subject ~ szh