MANUAL OF FISH-CULTURE. 163 



Two notable early instances of the successful transplanting of black 

 bass in a primitive way may be mentioned, the fish being transferred 

 in the tender of a locomotive — once in 1853, when the Potomac was 

 stocked, and again in 1875, when, under the direction of the Commis- 

 sioner of Fisheries of Virginia, adult black bass were moved from the 

 Roanoke E.iver across the divide to the New Iliver, a tributary of the 

 Kanawha. Up to 1875 the Kanawha contained no bass, and its edible 

 fishes consisted almost entirely of catfish, but for the past ten or a 

 dozen years thousands of bass have been taken from New River and its 

 numerous tributaries, draining ten counties of Virginia and running 

 through ijarts of North Carolina and West Virginia. New River was also 

 successfully stocked with rock bass by the Virginia Fish Commission, 

 the fish being brought from Holston River, a tributary of the Tennessee 

 in Washington County, Virginia, in June, 1876, and deposited in the 

 smaller tributaries of New River, in Montgomery County, Virginia, 

 whence they have colonized the entire New River basin. 



Few fish thrive in water of such varying extremes of temperature as 

 the large-mouth black bass, and, to a certain extent, the small-mouth. 

 The former are found in water covered with ice and in that standing 

 at 100° F.; but with both species sudden chauges of temperature fre- 

 quently prove fatal. 



The small-mouth black bass seeks pure, rapid, fairly clear streams, 

 and lives at higher elevations and in clearer waters than the large-mouth. 

 In the northern part of its range it becomes torpid in winter, but in 

 the warmer waters of the South it is active throughout the year. The 

 large-mouth black bass also likes pure, clear water, but often inhabits 

 the hot and stagnant bayous and ponds of the South. It has been 

 seen in great numbers under conditions of high temperature and muddy 

 water which would ordinarily be fatal to all forms of aquatic life except 

 of a very low order. Many die under these conditions, but numbers 

 live for months and some i>ossibly for years. Those from hot, stagnant 

 waters, however, have a soft, flabby flesh, and are apt to be infested 

 with parasites; they spoil quickly and are not palatable. Bass do not 

 voluntarily seek such unfavorable surroundings, and their presence 

 there is attributable to accident. The bass found in the Mississippi 

 valley under these conditions have been left by the spring freshets, 

 and, failing to go out with the slowly receding waters, thej^ reproduce 

 in great numbers in the ponds and lakes temjiorarily formed in the 

 depressions of the land. The surroundings are generally either rich 

 alluvial meadows or swampy forests, from which tlie receding water 

 drains an infinite quantity of natural food for the sustenance of the fish 

 retained in the temporary ponds. 



The rock bass is indigenous to the Great Lakes region and Missis- 

 sii)pi Valley, and there is evidence to show that it is native to certain 

 streams on the east side of the Alleghauies. It has been successfully 

 introduced into many new waters. In its native waters it is found in 

 the winter months under ice, and stands a high summer temperature, 



