PROPAGATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF FOOD FISHES, 1925 489 



of the soil, check a too abundant plant growth, and eliminate destructive beetles 

 and other carnivorous aquatic insect life. 



In advance of the spawning season steps were taken to supplement the supply 

 of brood bass with wild adults from local waters, and a sufficient number were 

 secured to stock three breeding ponds. Spawning began on March 20, about 

 10 daj^s later than usual, the delay being due to cool weather occurring throughout 

 January and February. There was an absence of sudden changes in temperature 

 and heavy electrical storms while the fish were nesting, these favorable conditions, 

 together with the improved quality of the brood stock, making possible a marked 

 increase in production, the output for the year consisting of 400,495 fry and 

 fingerling bass, 20,000 of which were still on hand at the end of June. The 

 highest record previously attained in the bass work in this field was in 1893, 

 when 271,000 were distributed. 



To facilitate the work of collecting bass fry from the ponds for distribution, a 

 decidedly novel scheme was resorted to. Every pondfish-culturist is familiar 

 with the fact that it is very hard to locate schools of young bass in the ponds 

 when the weather is windy. In an effort to overcome this difficulty a small 

 quantity of menhaden fish oil was sprinkled on the surface of the pond and proved 

 quite effectual, the water within a short time becoming smooth and quiet and 

 remaining in that condition for about 15 minutes. 



Harris Ponds (Ga.) substation. — Work in this field is confined to the propagation 

 of bream and catfish, and while the demands for the former are constantly 

 increasing, thus far it has been possible to keep pace with them. The ponds 

 are drawn late in the summer and the fingerling fish transferred to the main 

 station for convenience in distributing them to applicants. 



Edenton (N. C.) Station 

 [W. S. Vincent, Superintendent] 



The enlarging and improving of the pond system at this station during the 

 fall of 1924 enabled the bureau to produce the largest number of largemouth 

 black bass in its history in the spring of 1925. The brood fish, obtained from 

 local waters, were large, many of them weighing from 5 to 6 pounds, hence their 

 ability to produce eggs was at its maximum. Several of the schools of fry were 

 counted and were found to contain from 10,000 to 15,000 each. During May 

 and the first part of June 155,450 advanced fry and fingerling fish were gathered 

 from the ponds arid supplied to applicants. Shortly before the middle of June 

 the weather became so warm and the difficulty of teinpering the water for the 

 shipment of fish so great that the distribution work had to be postponed to await 

 more favorable conditions. In addition to largemouth bass, sunfish, crappie, 

 and warmouth bass were produced in small numbers. 



Louisville (Ky.) Station 



[C. W. BuRNHAM, Superintendent] 



The spawning season of the pondfishes handled at this station opened on 

 April 12, about 10 days earlier than usual, eggs of the smallmouth bass being 

 discovered on that date. In the course of the season several periods of cold 

 weather intervened, but there was nothing to indicate that either the eggs or 

 the fry were injured by it. The output of largemouth bass was small, as only 

 a small brood stock of that species was available for the work. Three hundred 

 and fifty adult fish constituted the brood stock of smallmouth bass, about one- 

 third of which were obtained from Lake Erie with the consent of the Ohio fish- 

 eries authorities. It was originally planned to secure 300 from that source, but 

 the demands of other stations had to be met also and the total supply was com- 

 paratively small. The season's output of voung fish of this species consisted of 

 420,000 fry and 2,725 fingerhngs. 



Heretofore it has been customary, as soon as the bass were removed from the 

 ponds, to use part of the space thus occupied for the propagation of bream. 

 However, in view of the fact that the number of bream produced in this way 

 exceeded the demand for them, the work with that species last season was lim- 

 ited to a single pond. The station also produced a small number of rock bass 

 for distribution. 



