230 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



The following remarks; on the propagation of black bass in ponds are based upon 

 extracts from Dr. Henshall's "Book of the Black Bass," reports of the Missouri, Wis- 

 consin, and Virginia Fish Commissions, newspaper articles, and the " log book" of the 

 Neosho Station, embracing a period of four years. Recognizing the probability of the 

 inaccuracy of a part of the data and conclusions, free criticism is invited. 



In the first place, it should be understood that reference is had to the large- 

 mouthed black bass (Mieropterus salmoides) which nature has the better adapted to 

 raising in ponds; and, in the second place, the object is to obtain a large number of 

 young fish for stocking purposes, not a limited number of large fish for angliug. When 

 we come to consider the question of food for the bass under domestication the impor- 

 tance of this latter point will be recognized. 



Spawning period. — Dr. lien shall says: 



The period of spawning extends from early spring to midsummer, according to the section of 

 country and temperature of water; * * * in the Southern States occurring as early as March, and 

 in the Northern States and Canada from the middle of May until the middle of July, always earlier 

 in very shallow waters and somewhat later in those of greater depth. 



This can be accepted as a safe guide, for in the main it is undoubtedly correct, 

 though instances have come under my observation which would suggest a modifica- 

 tion of the periods. In January, 1893, I saw the bass on their nests in San Marcos 

 Spring at San Marcos, Texas, and in Olmos Creek at San Antonio, Texas. The 

 questions which then presented themselves to me were, "Are these sporadic cases'?" 

 or "Do the bass in Texas produce more than one crop a year!" It should be under- 

 stood that these waters (particularly the San Marcos Spring) are generous warm 

 springs, never freezing, and at the time of which I speak the Galadium esculentwm 

 was luxuriating on the margin and the Nelubium lutem growing in mid-stream in full 

 bud, ready to flower. From my knowledge of other fishes, close allies to the bass, I 

 am of the opinion that under the conditions just described the generative organs of 

 the bass do not wait upon the seasons, for under such conditions it is always summer. 



Nest-maMng material. — However this may be, the fish-culturist having the bass 

 under care will receive ample warning of their intended spawning. A few days in 

 advance the fish pair off and select a place for their nest. The selection of the loca- 

 tion as to depth of water, material for nest, environment, etc., seem in a large measure 

 to be matters of individual choice. I have known bass to decline a nice lot of clean 

 gravel, in water 3 feet deep and 8 feet away from the embankment of the pond, to 

 build a nest on the naked clay bottom, within hand reach of the bank on which 

 visitors were passing almost every hour. My experience is that a majority of the 

 bass prefer a nest of clean gravel in water about 30 inches deep. But no matter how 

 dirty the gravel may be, or how overgrown with moss and algae, when the bass need 

 it they will clean it as bright as if every particle had been polished with a brush. It 

 is a fact worthy of comment that the nest-building on the part of the bass does not 

 wear so hard upon their fins as in the case of the trout. In the ponds at Neosho are 

 bass which we know to have built at least three series of nests. (As they were adult 

 fish when captured from the Illinois River, they may have built more.) Not one of 

 these bass shows the least fraying of the caudal fin. On the contrary, I have known 

 trout, after one season's work, to seriously impair the caudal and anal fins. The 

 nests are generally circular, though oftentimes irregular in shape, slightly depressed 

 toward the center. In size they vary from 18 inches to 3 feet in diameter. Dr. Hen- 

 shall says: "The diameter of the nest is usually twice the length of the fish." 





