Part III. 



POND FISH CULTURE. 



"EARLY DAY" OBSERVATIONS. 



Part III of this bulletin on Pond Fish Culture will include 

 many observations" which the author made on fish in the early 

 history of the state of Kansas. His first knowledge of fish 

 was gained in the sixties and seventies, when he was a boy, 

 and when he spent a large portion of his time fishing and hunt- 

 ing on the Wakarusa and many of its tributaries. While many 

 of these "early day" observations may not be so accurate as 

 those made in later years when the writer had more knowledge 

 and was guided by a more scientific spirit, yet they were made 

 at a time when conditions were quite different from what they 

 are now, and we consider them of more or less value because 

 they were made when the streams and ponds and lakes were in 

 a different condition from what we find them at the present 

 time. 



Lessons learned from those "early day" conditions may be 

 of value when it comes to considering the possibilities of rais- 

 ing fish under present-day conditions. In those early times the 

 streams, lakes and ponds were well supplied with fish, and the 

 early settlers who fished with hickory poles, using worms for 

 bait, had little trouble in catching all the fish they wanted for 

 table use. Those "early day" fishermen found the streams, 

 ponds and lakes in their natural condition. The water was 

 pure and usually clear, and was free from sewage and other 

 civilized pollutions. Since the state has been settled and much 

 of the land put under cultivation, more or less change and 

 modification has naturally come to its streams and ponds. 

 In many localities the streams have been polluted and partly 

 filled with mud and trash. This pollution comes from various 

 sources. Wastes from manufacturing establishments, wastes 

 from oil and mining districts, and wastes in the form of sew- 

 age from many towns and cities are the chief sources of con- 

 tamination. Most of the mud deposited in the streams comes 

 from the soil that has been washed from cultivated fields. 



(87) 



