BLACK BASS CULTURE 193 



we can provide the bass I'l^ and small fiii<i:erlin<ys with entomostraca 

 and insects for a short time and follow these with a continuous su[)ply 

 of small fish, they should make an uninterrupted growth througliout 

 the summer. 



The entomostraca feed largely upon algas and small fragments of 

 vegetable material, consequently plant growth in the ponds should be 

 stimulated early in the season so as to have sufficient food for the 

 young bass when they appear on the scene. If there is no circulation 

 through the ponds the water will warm up rapidly under the in- 

 fluence of the sun's rays and will soon be swarming with daphnids 

 and other Crustacea. Unless the ponds are very heavily stocked with 

 fry they should, if properly fertilized, produce sufficient entomostraca 

 to supply the needs of the young bass until they are able to eat larger 

 organisms. However, if more than 25,000 to 30,000 fry to the acre 

 are to be held in a pond for any length of time, it is advisable to add 

 additional Crustacea at frequent intervals. These can be reared in 

 small pools devoted solely to this purpose. 



So far we have no practicable method of materially increasing the 

 supply of aquatic insects, but ordinarily these organisms are suffi- 

 ciently abundant to tide the young bass over the transition stage 

 until they can subsist chiefly on forage fish, with wdiich the ponds 

 should be heavily stocked. 



As previously mentioned, three species of fish have been used for 

 forage purposes during the present investigation. Probably the 

 goldfish has been more frequently used as a forage fish for bass than 

 any other species, but in our experiments it has not given satisfactory 

 results. This species is unsuitable for use in nursery ponds, since it 

 spawns before the bass and by the time the young bass begin to feed 

 upon fish many of the goldfish are too large to be eaten. The ad- 

 visability of introducing goldfish in spawning ponds is also open to 

 question, since they are liable to interfere with the bass nests. Gold- 

 fish are, however, very prolific and easily propagated, and since they 

 are eagerly eaten by bass that are large enough to do so they make an 

 ideal fish for feeding to j^earlings and also to brood stock during the 

 fall and winter. For this purpose they should be reared in separate 

 ponds and fed to the bass as required. 



The blackhead or fathead minnow has also been found unsatis- 

 factory for use in bass ponds, although this species, like the goldfish, 

 may prove to be very desirable for propagating in separate forage 

 ponds. Where fish are to be reared in separate ponds for supple- 

 menting the supply of forage fish in spawning and nursery ponds 

 the blackhead is especially recommended. 



For stocking spawning and nursery ponds there is probably no 

 forage fish which is superior to the golden shiner. This species has 

 none of the defects of the goldfish and the adults are large enough to 

 escape from even the most precocious bass fingerlings, at least imtil 

 near the close of the season. Some fish-culturists have accused the 

 shiner of feeding on bass eggs and while we have no definite informa- 

 tion to disprove their assertions the results obtained in our spawning 

 ponds clearly indicate that this must happen very rarely, if at all. 

 The shiner is not primarily a bottom feeder, nor is it likely that it 

 would seek the proximity of a bass nest that is being guarded by an 

 adult male. 



