86 U. S. BUKEAU OF FISHERIES. 



October two abandoned ponds that had been allowed to grow up 

 in weeds and bushes were cleared, and after plowing, harrowing, 

 and leveling the soil, water was turned in and the bottoms thor- 

 oughly puddled by the use of a team and drag. The addition of 

 these two ponds to the existing system will materially increase the 

 pond fish-cultural facilities of the station. All buildings on the 

 reservation, with the exception of the barn, were painted during the 

 year, a number of minor repairs were made, and a considerable 

 amount of grading and leveling was done on the grounds preparatory 

 to sowing them to grass. 



The corn received as rental for the use of a portion of the station 

 reservation, together with the hay grown on the grounds and har- 

 vested by the station force, sufficed as feed for the station team prac- 

 tically throughout the year. 



In view of the preparations made in advance of the spawning 

 season for improving and enlarging the brood stock of the large- 

 mouth and smallmouth black bass, the results of the season's work 

 were disappointing, the combined production of both species being 

 but little in excess of 100,000 fingerlings. During the preceding fall 

 and winter constant efforts had been put forth to acquire, by pur- 

 chase and also by collections from open waters, all available adult 

 bass not under 14 inches in length, and on April 15, when the col- 

 lections ceased, the brood stock had been increased by the addition 

 of 213 fish, giving a total of 500, of which 300 were largemouth bass. 

 These fish had received as a regular diet throughout the fall and 

 winter all the beef heart they would eat, in addition to about 50,000 

 common minnows obtained from neighboring streams. When ap- 

 portioned among the breeding ponds their condition was most ex- 

 cellent. 



The nesting of both species of black bass began on April 4 in a 

 water temperature of 58°, and eggs were deposited freely through- 

 out the spawning period in the four ponds devoted to the work. 

 The spawning season of the smallmouth bass was completed by May 

 2, but eggs were deposited by the largemouth species up to and in- 

 cluding June 10. The small results of the season's efforts were due to 

 various adverse climatic conditions, among them being the cold, back- 

 ward spring, sudden fluctuations in air and water temperatures, high 

 winds, heavy rains, and muddy water. Suffocation of eggs and fry 

 in the excessively muddy water experienced was probably responsible 

 for the greater part of the loss sustained, taking the season as a 

 whole, though starvation is believed to have been an important fac- 

 tor also, due to the inability of the fry to find sufficient natural food 

 in the cloudy water. Moreover, it is reasonable to suppose that the 

 natural food supply carried in the water during times of heavy 

 rains and freshets is much smaller than when normal conditions 

 obtain. The distribution of the smallmouth bass, consisting of 

 20,200 fingerlings Nos. 1 and 2, was completed in June, but collec- 

 tions of the largemouth species were still in progress when the year 

 closed, the output up to that time amounting to 85,700 fingerlings. 

 A compensating feature of the work was that all fish shipped were 

 of fine quality, strong, and active. 



From the single pond that had been devoted to the production of 

 rock bass 17,600 fingerling fish were collected when the pond was 

 lowered in October, 1922. The late fall distributions also included 



