Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-04-28

tom it win die. Of course. and here
again are tremendous chances to en-
counter. The muxEel beds are records
Of survfvzIs-miIIioms of the meta
morpho8ed g1ochfdia fall on unsuitable
bottom and are lost Wherever the
conditions are good. survivak are
result
1t is to this point that the fnvestiga-
tions Of the bureau of fisheries have
carrie the problem They have
prove that the first great crisis Of the
youIc mussel's life can be success
fully overcome by artificial aid. and
even if the second critical period should
never be conquered, an enormous saw
ing has been accomplished.
So the work Of the Fairport station at
present fs this: To secure the spawning
mussels. to secure the fish which shalt
serve as carriers, to bring about the con-
tact of glochidia and fish with optimum
effect. and and to release e as; these fish In
be expected to thrive. For this purpose
ponds are provided for the fish. and
tanks, in the station buildings, are espe-
cially equipped for performing the infec-
ton process. Numerous small jets
Of water from the bottom of the tank
keep the glochidia> suspended in the body
of water, In order that contact with the
fish may more readily occur.
Il 4
The fish themselves in wire baskets or
cages. are lowered to the bottom Of the
tank and lifted out when the infection is
complete. One, two or three spawning
mussels placed in the tank will infect
large number of fish with the optimum
load of parasites. young bass four or
five inches long carrying successfully
several hundred to 1000 glochidia. Young
fish are generally used because they are
easily obtainable by collecting and easily
handled in the infection procedure. After
the musselS have fallen from them, the
fish are distributed. as usual In the
bureau of fisheries work, for the stocking
of public streams Since they carry the
glochidfa, they will, Of course, presuma-
bly, stock the new locality with mussels.
Agriculture. like agriculture, is seriously
fnterfered with by floods, drougl1ts and
other adverse weather, and the Fairport
station in Its first year encountered these
disadvantages to such extent that search
ty of mussels and fish for the work kept
down the volume of output. Mussel cul-
ture is. however, successfully under way,
and this station is thus q double-barreled
affair, SO to speak. for while performing
the same fish-cultural role as the stations
at Manchester. Iowa; Meredosia. ILL.,: La
crosse, Wis. and others Of the Mississippi
region in the reclamation Of fish from
overfows. 1t will serve simultaneously the
additional purpose Of preserving the
mussel supply.
-
The problems which it hopes to solve,
under its resident director, Dr. Robert E.
Coker, a naturalist who has made
special study of shellfish, and by the
plans Of DR.. H. F. Moore, who is in
charge in Washington of all the scientific
research Of the bureau Of fisheries, are,
first, the actual rearing of mussels to an
age when they can be planted directly in
suitable streams, without mourning the
chances incident to the random wander
ings OF the fish that carry them, and. Sec
ond, the development of commercial adj
vantage to owners of ponds.
While 1t is obvious that a great part of
the mortality of young mussels must be
prevented by insuring safe attachment
Of the glochidia to the fish, it Is equally
plain that further saving can be accom-
plished by insuring that the parasite mus
sci when 1t leaves the fish shall drop upon
suitable bottom. To this end attempt
will be made to keep mussel-infected fish
in ponds supplying the favorable condi-
tons, and after the metamorph0sis re-
tain the young mussels until they can be
transported and planted without appre-
cable loss.
The commercial possibilities of mussel
culture in ponds are problematic. The
currents, and only some kinds have been
found to survive in ponds. 1t Is not to
be dismissed as impossible. however.
thinks DR.. Moore, that when the condt-
tons of musse1 growth have been more
fully studied some means may be found
to establish profitable mussel beds In the
large farm ponds SO commonly found in
the prairie states. Should the pearl cul-
ture problem ever be solved, mussel-
stocked ponds would, Of course, prove the
medium Of profit
The program Of the Fairport station
is, moreover, peculiarly practical in
other respects. Members of it's staff and
other specialists have examined various
streams to discover their present mussel
supply, or the possibilities Of restocking.
So far such exploration has been made
in the Maumee river, Ohio: the Kanka-
kee river, in Indiana and Illinois: Big
Buffalo Fork Of the White river,
Arkansas; the Cumberland river. In
Tennessee and Kentucky, and some other
streams. And not only does the work
look to replenishment Of the mussel
beds, but the experts of the bureau of
fisheries appraise the streams as to
their value from the standpoint of the
fisherman or the manufacturer-this
especially in the case Of newly found
areas.
In the Kankakee river, for instance, 1T
has been found that upon certain beds
the muSSelS are of specific kinds and