FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



pound in weight, and generally lays from two to 

 three hundred thousand eggs. But for this un- 

 usual fertility, the fish would soon become ex- 

 tinct, for it is probable that not much more than 

 ten per cent of the eggs are ever hatched, and the 

 young fry meet with innumerable foes in the early 

 stages of their existence. They furnish an excel- 

 lent food-supply to many of their neighbors, and 

 often to their own parents. The eggs are left 

 uncovered by the female fish, and, though mixed 

 with the sand, are often thrown up in large num- 

 bers upon the shores of lakes by stormy weather, 

 while in the water they are the prey of numerous 

 other fishes. In consequence of the enormous 

 natural waste of the ova, the fish culturists are able 

 to assist nature very materially by taking charge of 

 the eggs in their hatcheries. 



The flesh of the pike-perch is very highly and 

 very deservedly esteemed, both in America and 

 upon the continent of Europe. It is beautifully 

 white and firm, at least in high latitudes, delicate 

 in flavor, flaky, and easily digested. In the coun- 

 try of the Great Lakes, where it is most abundant, 

 it is valued next to the whitefish and the lake 

 trout as an article of food. Fried in butter or 

 with slices of salt pork, in camp, when freshly 

 caught, it is a very savory morsel. Of course there 

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