BLACK BASS CULTURE 189 



spawn for the first time, and how lon^j^ tliey continue to spawn. As 

 a result of this phase of the work, it has been learned, for instance, 

 that the hir<i:em()utli bass may spawn at Fairport Avlicn 1 year old. 

 This is shown by the results for F 3 in 1927. This pond was stocked 

 in the spring Avith 27 select yearling bass. Twelve of these were 

 under 6 inches in length. When the pond was drained the following 

 fall, 67 four-inch fingerling bass were found, in addition to the year- 

 lings with which the pond was stocked. It is evident that at least 

 one pair of these bass matured and spawned at the beginning of the 

 second year. 



That 2-year-old bass may be expected to spawn is shown by the 

 results for F 3 in 1929. This pond was stocked with 15 two-year-old 

 bass (5 males, 10 females), and produced 12,219 fry. This is an 

 average production of over 1,200 fry per female. These 15 adults 

 when put in the pond weighed only 3 pounds and 1 ounce, or slightly 

 over 3 ounces each. Their small size was due to underfeeding during 

 the previous year. Three-year-old fish have also spawned with a fair 

 degree of success. Age, however, is only one factor in brood fish. 

 Size and weight are probably equally if not more important. Wo 

 feel that in the past sufficient attention has not been paid to the food 

 of our young brood fish, and consequently, they have not grown as 

 rapidly as they should. Some of the poor results with spawners at 

 Fairport as well as at other stations have probably been due to the 

 fact that the fish had not been fed properly during the previous 

 season. 



With reference to the important problem of the number of brood 

 fish which can be expected to produce the best results, our informa- 

 tion is still very incomplete. Owing to the small number of ponds 

 at our disposal it will be some time before this question can be set- 

 tled definitely, but nevertheless some of our results have a bearing 

 on this question. 



In 1929 pond D 5 was stocked with 17 females and 7 males (these 

 are the wild fish referred to above). This stocking was at the rate 

 of 24 fish per acre and the ratio of males to females was 1 to 2.4. A 

 total of 101,650 fry were removed in June and in the fall the pond 

 produced 3,808 bass fingerlings averaging 2.9 inches in length. In 

 addition there were 15 '"' selects " averaging 4.5 inches long. The 

 adults were not weighed in the spring, but in the fall when the pond 

 was drained they averaged 1.84 pounds each. Taking into account 

 the probable percentage of survival, it seems a conservative estimate 

 that a 2-pound female should produce from 6,000 to 7,000 fry. A 

 similar figure for the number of fry per female is obtained when we 

 base our calculations on the results obtained from the same fish in 

 1928. 



These figures are significant, since they show that good results can 

 be obtained when males and females are used in the ratio of 1 to 2.4. 

 This not only makes possible a considerable reduction in the number 

 of brood fish that have to be carried, but it also reduces the number 

 of nests in a pond very materially and also the amount of fighting 

 over females on the part of the males. In most of our spawning 

 ponds, during the last three years, we have used 2 males to 3 females. 

 Apparently 1 male to 2 females would give equally good results. 



