I So 



REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



temperature of water approximating sixty-eight degrees Fahrenheit to hatch the food 

 of young black bass (^Cyclops, Daplinia, etc., illustrated in the report of this Commis- 

 sion for 1895), so there is no earthly or watery reason for young bass to be born, 

 before their food is ready for them, for again like all spring spawning fishes, the 

 umbilical sac, with which they are born and on which they feed by absorption, is 

 small and is exhausted in a few days. 



The only thing thus far done in the way of rearing young black bass is to provide 

 breeding ponds of small area where the bass can be under the constant observation of 



THE LAST FISH FOR THE DAY. 



those in charge. The breeding fish are placed in the ponds and are there allowed to 

 spawn naturally, although artificial nests or spawning beds are in some instances pro- 

 vided. After the bass have mated and spawned and the young are hatched, the 

 parent fish are removed and the young remain in the pond. With the best of care 

 and feeding, the black bass fry will prey upon one another, the strong eating the 

 weak. When the fry are two to four inches long, they are netted out of the rearing 

 ponds and distributed in like manner as other fish of same size. This is the nearest 



