textile tests were undertaken to determine the physical properties of textiles. The Bureau has made during the year numerous tests of raw wool to determine the grease and moisture present and the regain. The standardization of specifications for fabrics, yarns, and twines is being undertaken at the request of various Government departments. More than 2,500 samples of asbestos have been tested for physical properties. As heretofore the Bureau has tested the papers, cloths, and other materials used in printing and binding and has done much work for the General Supply Committee and the various Government departments.

The determination of the properties of materials by measurements has for its primary object the development of standards of quality of materials. These are embodied in standard specifications which are developed with the cooperation of all interests concerned. The value of such standardization to the maker, the dealer, and the consumer is beyond estimate.

The Bureau is largely indebted for the success of its work thus far to the hearty cooperation of the national technical societies, the manufacturers, and the technical representatives of the Government bureaus.

BUREAU OF FISHERIES.

FISH-CULTURAL WORK.

Despite many difficulties, the Bureau's activities in 1912 in the propagation, rescue, and distribution of the more important food fishes were attended with gratifying results. It is especially noteworthy that the total output exceeded that of the record year of 1911, though the egg collections of whitefish and pike perch, two of the most important fishes handled, were less than one-third the quantity taken in 1911.

The total number of fry planted was over 3,426,000,000, and of fingerlings, yearlings, and adults over 32,200,000. More than 229,599,000 eggs were distributed, nearly all to State fish hatcheries.

The work was conducted in 31 States and the Territory of Alaska, and consisted of the propagation of 42 species at 32 main and 92 auxiliary stations, including the new salmon auxiliaries on the Duckabush and Quilcene Rivers, in the Puget Sound region, Washington, which were completed and put in operation during the year. Special efforts were directed to the cultivation of the salmons of the Pacific coast, the commercial fishes of the Great Lakes region, and the anadromous and marine species of the Atlantic seaboard, though the fishes of the interior, comprising the various species of trouts, the basses, crappies, and sunfishes, were also propagated extensively.

The success of the fish-cultural work hinges largely on the physical and meteorological conditions prevailing in the short spawning seasons of the various species of fishes. High winds, freshets, droughts, and abnormal heat or cold all render abortive the most elaborate preparations, and cause variations from year to year in the output of the stations so affected. Owing to extremely low water stages during 1911, quantities of salmon were unable to reach the streams covered by the Bureau's work in California; violent storms on the Great Lakes in the fall curtailed the collection of whitefish eggs, and abnormally cold weather and floating ice in the spring of 1912 made it impossible for the fishermen to operate their nets, resulting in a heavy decrease in the take of pike-perch eggs. However, while the output of fish from these particular fields compares unfavorably with that of last year, increases in the collections of other important species, together with the superior quality of most of the eggs obtained, enabled the Bureau to exceed the output of 1911 by 41,626,522 fish and eggs.

One of the successful features of the work was the rearing to fingerling size of 1,500,000 young salmon at the Clackamas and auxiliary stations, where three months' supply of food for the growing fish was donated by the Columbia River packers, who wished to demonstrate that the fisheries could be more adequately aided thus than by planting the entire hatchery output in the fry stage.

At one of the Columbia River stations the experiment of purchasing brood chinook salmon from trap-net fishermen and holding them in pens to ripen resulted in largely increased egg collections, at reduced expense, and it is believed this plan may be advantageously and economically adopted at other points on this river.

At Yes Bay, Alaska, the hatchery was filled with blueback-salmon eggs of superior quality, and sufficient fish to have produced at least 20,000,000 more were left in the river owing to lack of hatching facilities. The capacity of this hatchery will be enlarged another year from 72,000,000 to approximately 87,000,000 eggs by increasing the number of eggs to a basket and by the construction of 160 new hatching troughs, which will permit the rearing of from 35,000,000 to 40,000,000 fry to the feeding stage. In view of the apparent increase in the salmon runs in southeast Alaska, the possibility of securing eggs in larger numbers, and the desirability of rearing a larger percentage of the fry to the fingerling stage, another hatchery of greater capacity than the present one might advantageously be provided.

The collections of eggs of the blueback salmon at the Afognak station were about equal to those of the previous year. The output, though somewhat smaller in number, represents in reality a greater degree of success, inasmuch as 10,500,000 young fish were reared to the fingerling stage before liberating, whereas no work of this character was accomplished in 1911. It is believed that the usefulness of the Afognak station would be greatly extended by establishing eggcollecting fields on other streams on Afognak and adjacent islands, and it is proposed to establish two such auxiliaries on Kodiak Island, at Eagle Harbor and Eganak Lake, within the next year.

The usual Pacific coast shad operations were conducted near the falls of the Willamette River, and resulted in the liberation of 2,500,000 fry. In the Columbia River shad are said to be increasing to such an extent that the packers are planning increased facilities for placing them on the market.

While there was no apparent increase over recent years in the run of shad in the Potomac River, a record was established in the take of shad eggs at the Bryan Point station, the collections amounting to 88,727,000, and the yield of fry to 81,000,000, or 92 per cent of the eggs obtained. The nearest approach to this record occurred in 1903, the egg collections of that year numbering 86,370,000 and the output of fry amounting to 69,772,000. The high degree of success is attrib66247°-12- -7

uted to the uniformly favorable weather and water temperatures during the spawning season, which permitted the capture of a larger per cent of fish with uninjured eggs, and also to improved methods of handling. Though the take of eggs of yellow perch at this station was somewhat curtailed by cold weather at the beginning of the season, the output of fry amounted to over 192,000,000.

The output of shad from the stations on Albemarle Sound and the Susquehanna River was substantially larger than that of last year, but here also the improvement was due more to favorable weather conditions than to an increase in the run of shad.

The year's operations with the marine fishes at the Boothbay Harbor station were highly successful. There was a slight deficiency in the cod work, owing to the nonappearance of the second run of fish along the Maine coast, and the haddock work was interfered with by stormy weather, but these shortages were more than offset by the results attained in the hatching and distribution of lobsters and flatfish.

The collections of cod and flatfish for the Woods Hole station were far above the average, taxing the hatching facilities to the utmost, notwithstanding the installation of additional equipment. At the Gloucester station, also, the available hatching apparatus proved entirely inadequate for the large numbers of pollock, haddock, and flatfish eggs secured, and the losses during incubation were much larger than would have been the case under normal conditions.

At the inland stations, where the basses and other warm-water fishes are propagated, the work was encouraging. Notwithstanding the healthy growth and expansion of this feature of the Bureau's work, however, it is unable at the present time to cope with the enormous demands from all sections of the country for such fish as the basses, crappies, sunfishes, and catfishes for the stocking of private and semiprivate waters adapted to pond culture. In view of the rapidly increasing demand for these species, it seems highly desirable that new pond stations be established and that the facilities of those already in operation be increased. Until very recently the output of pond fishes has depended to a large extent upon collections made from the overflows of streams in the Mississippi Basin. When the water stages are favorable this source furnishes an abundant supply, but occasionally there are long periods of drought in the rivers, which condition necessitates the abandonment of the work and makes this supply very uncertain.

The results attending the propagation of black-spotted trout in the Yellowstone National Park, which is the source of supply for the Montana, Colorado, and South Dakota stations, justify the prosecution of the work on a more extensive scale in future. During the summer of 1911 nearly 20,000,000 eggs were collected and batched

with only normal losses. This excellent work was accomplished with fish-cultural facilities of the most primitive character, and without sufficient shelter for the employees engaged in the operations. The impossibility of handling the large numbers of eggs with the field apparatus available necessitated the hurried construction of additional hatching troughs, which were located in the beds of streams and at other points where a water supply by gravity could be secured. The Bureau invites the cooperation of the various State fish commissions in its work, fully realizing the value of their assistance in the propagation and distribution of fish in fields that it has difficulty in covering with its available facilities. It realizes, indeed, that in many cases success or failure depends upon the attitude assumed by the State officials. During 1912 over 209,000,000 fish and eggs were donated to the hatcheries of 24 different States. In some of the States, however, there is a growing tendency to hamper the Bureau by the imposition of restrictions, and in other States inadequate fishery laws or the lax enforcement of existing laws operates against the success of the Bureau's efforts.

INVESTIGATIONS AND SURVEYS.

Owing to the necessity for repairs to the steamer Fish Hawk, which is the only vessel available for the purpose, the Bureau has been unable to continue the oyster surveys which for a number of years have been a much appreciated and economically valuable feature of its operations. At the end of the fiscal year, however, at the urgent request of the State authorities, plans were being made for a survey in the waters of Texas.

Considerable progress was made in the study of the habits and life history of the drill and other natural enemies of the oyster which annually cause great loss to the oyster growers of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. A verbal report on the progress of this work and the results attained, made to a recent national convention of oyster growers, was received with favorable attention.

Experiments in diamondback-terrapin culture, which have been in progress for several years, have been continued and the results attained lead to the expectation that breeding and raising this valuable terrapin in captivity will soon become a profitable industry.

Investigations were made of the pearl-mussel resources of the Cumberland, Illinois, and Arkansas Rivers, and reports of interest to the mussel fishermen and the pearl-button manufacturers will be issued at an early date. A preliminary report giving prompt information of the conditions on the Cumberland River was favorably received by those economically interested. At the end of the fiscal year an investigation of the mussel supply in the lakes of northern Minnesota, a practically virgin field, was under way.