The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-02-20
WILD DUCK AND QUAIL Fisheries and Game Com mission Offers Sug-
 gestions. Trout Supply Low-Work of Fish Hatchery.

l Fishermen will be interested in what the report of the commission CTS of fisheries and game for the past two years has to say about trout. The statement follows:-
 1 The low stage of the waters in the l brooks throughout the state during ! the past two years has greatly injur- ed the trout supply. Brooks which have in the past been we'll stocked | by the commission and which afford ! ed our people a supply of game fish, nearly and some entirely dry. In the distribution of trout we have made extra efforts to reach every section of ! the state. .se The brook trout is the most highly esteemed of all varieties of game fish which inhabit our waters, and its re- introduction affords as much satisfac- tion to our people as any work of the commission. It's cultivation has spe- cial advantages. Brooks in which it once dwelt were, in many instances, depopulated of trout, and bare of any and all fish life With its destruction had also been destroyed its enemies. Both have disappeared together and, consequently, the lingering trout when once more placed in these brooks have nothing to fear and can live and grow almost to an individual. In most every instance trout raised by the commission and planted in old worn out trout brooks have done we'll, and in many cases surpassed expecta- tions. A brook that has not contain ed trout for many years can be re- stocked artificially to yield abundant ly.
 Speaking of the trout hatchery at Windsor Locks, the report says:-
 During the fall of 1908 the United States fishery commission allotted to nf <ha tive wild brook trout from Vermont. These eggs matched nicely and the fish are retained for brood fish which are now jus! coming to breeding age. Several thousand eggs will be taken from them this season. The infusing of new blood to the stock of old brood fish will result beneflcially. We have on hand good supply of brook and rainbow trout from one to three years old, so that in another year these tity of eggs from the hatchery's own stock of brook fish. The expense of rearing trout to fingerling size is very large and the risk of loss through dis ease and sudden rise of water tenn perature are serious matters to con- item in the expense account. The fish food consists of ground liver, lights. hearts. etc, of domestic ami mals.
 Output of Fish.
 The report contains statistics of all the fish matched and distributed
 The tables are of interesting value pounds of fish which with the 5S23s shad caught returned a total of $780, 283 to the fishermen of the state during the past two years. The fol- lowing is the total number of fish matched and distributed at the sev- eral stations during the biennial pe- riod: Brook trout, f1ngerlings, 224,- SO1; rainbow trout, yearlings and fin gerlings, 12,000; small mouth black bass, advanced fry. s0.ooo; yellow fry, 1,05o.00o; shad, fry. 1,5sS,oO0; lobster, fry, 59,949,49O. The total number is 73,624,491.
 Game Birds.
 The report, in speaking of game birds, says:-
 The general conditions of the game fields are more satisfactory in show grouse and quail over the previous biennial period. The almost complete extermination of the quail was caused in part, by the severe winter of 1903, and in our last biennial report the prediction which was made that a speedy recovery to normal conditions would result, seem to be true, as dur ing the past season the quail have been more numerous than for several years past. The opinion of many IS that law should be enacted prohibit ing the killing of quail for a term of years, but it has been demonstrated that nature will perform her func- tions and for reasons that periodical ly we have severe winters which al- most exterminate them and many birds which might have been used for food are wasted, it would seem best that the open season should continue. Every precaution has been taken to preserve the native quail during cold weather and deep snows. Feed and grain have been purchased and dis tributed where coveys are known to be. Arrangements have been made with farmers to leave uncut grain for bird feed.
 The raising of game birds in captiv- ity has not yet been reduced to a prac- tical basis, except perhaps in the case of the pheasant. but such may be the result if experiments being made can find some method to make the young birds live after they are successfully matched.
 Tn few cases quail have been pro- pagated in limited numbers, and in-