PROPAGATION OF BLACK BASS IN PONDS. 235 



not yet in the possession of the mass of fish-culturists, and until this secret is common 

 knowledge we must move with caution. If the nursery has been prepared in advance 

 with the aquatic plants already suggested, some Crustacea will be found to have taken 

 up a home and commenced their reproduction. To a nursery in fair condition from 

 3,000 to 5,000 young bass may be allotted. The death of a part of these must be 

 expected. However, should a large part of them by good fortune survive the first 

 few weeks, they can later be divided into other nurseries. 



Management of the nursery. — As the summer advances those fish which have 

 commenced life with the highest degree of initial vitality will be noticed to be out- 

 stripping the less vigorous ones, and a closer observation will disclose that some of 

 the larger ones are guilty of cannibalism. On the first signs of this — sooner would be 

 better — the young bass should be collected and the sizes sorted into different ponds. It 

 may be urged that when the work is conducted on a large scale this operation would 

 require too much time and expense of labor. The answer is, neglect to do it and you 

 will reap a diminished harvest of large fish. In my opinion the midsummer sorting 

 of the young bass is of importance surpassed only by the necessity for removing the 

 young from the spawning pond. The average length of six months' bass at Neosho is 

 3 inches, though I have frequently seen them of the same age measuring from 8 to 10 

 inches. Whoever has seen a bass choked to death by trying to swallow one of equal 

 size will not doubt that the 8 inch fellow will diminish the number of the 3-inch fishes. 



Food for the nursery. — So far I have been going on the supposition that no 

 artificial food will be used, or any natural food supplied in addition to that which the 

 pond will produce. It is evident that if even a fair per cent of the 3,000 or 5,000 fish 

 in a nursery of the size recommended are to survive they must have more food than 

 the pond can grow. For reasons already given, any addition of the smaller Crusta- 

 cea (except the Gammarus) can not yet be undertaken. At Neosho we resort to finely 

 chopped beef liver for the bass, and I am free to confess with not the most satisfactory 

 results. At the Forest Park ponds of the Missouri Fish Commission a method is 

 pursued which is not without advantages, but one which I am not prepared to unqual- 

 ifiedly indorse. Several weeks before the bass spawn the attendant catches the 

 little branch chub and puts them into the pond. The chub spawns and hatches out 

 before the bass. When the young bass are transferred to the nursery they find a lot 

 of young chub waiting to be eaten. One of my objections is that they also find a lot 

 of old chub waiting to eat them. It is true that this objection could be obviated by 

 hatching the chub artificially (as can easily be done) and turning only the young 

 chub into the pond. To those who do not fear the risk of pampering to the natural 

 cannibalistic propensity of the bass, this method will appeal by reason of its simplicity 

 and cheapness; but this is something that I fear as much as any other factor yet 

 encountered in the cultivation of the bass. My advice is, never feed your bass, old 

 or young, on any kind of fish, unless it be crayfish ; but start with the determination 

 that they must be trained while under domestication to forego their natural inclina- 

 tion for fish diet. I am aware of the excellent work done with the bass at the Carr, 

 Pond, at Washington, D. C, in the summer 1892, when the ponds were infested with 

 sunfish. But there are no means of determining what proportion of the young bass were 

 devoured by the sunfish before they fell a victim to the parent bass. 



Harvesting. — The harvesting should occur in the cool days of autumn, at which 

 time the young bass with the greater ease and safety can be transported for distribu- 



