Part III.] Pond Fish Culture. 101 



The small animal life, such as the small crustaceans, mol- 

 lusks, and insects, and the various forms of larvae in any ordi- 

 nary pond, is limited and will support only about so many young 

 fish. Where a great number of young fish are spawned, the 

 mortality from one cause or another must of necessity be great. 

 We find that as the fish grow they are continuously searching 

 for food. Their appetites seem to be of a nature that can 

 scarcely be satisfied, and their growth depends upon the kind 

 and amount of food they can secure. 



Two years ago we stocked a pond with bass and such other 

 fish as we thought should be placed in it for food for the bass. 

 During the first week in September the pond was drained, and 

 from the 5th to the 10th of September the young fish were 

 removed. The young bass which had been spawned in the 

 latter part of April and May varied in size from two to six 

 inches in length. A number of the larger specimens were 

 killed, and the contents of their stomachs examined. As a 

 rule we would find from one to three of the smaller bass in 

 the stomachs of the larger carnivorous specimens. Experi- 

 ments and observations here at the Hatchery go to show that 

 as soon as the young bass reach one and a half or two inches 

 in length, unless food is plentiful, the stronger and larger of 

 these fish begin to show their cannibalistic nature by feeding 

 upon the smaller and. weaker members of their own kind. 



It is not an uncommon thing, while handling these young fish 

 and shipping them on the car, to discover that they are feeding 

 upon each other. The fish that undertake to swallow each other 

 are frequently so nearly of the same size that on many occa- 

 sions we have found them, one with the head and shoulders 

 stuck in the mouth and throat of the other, dead as a result of 

 their choking and smothering to death. This occurs in the 

 ponds as well as in the shipping tanks, and is not confined 

 altogether to the small and young fish, as we have found fish 

 from one to five pounds in weight that were cannibals, swal- 

 lowing other fish not much smaller than themselves. However, 

 opportunities for making observations are not so good in the 

 ponds as in tanks where the fish can be easily observed. 



Some fish culturists think it advisable to separate the young 

 and the old fish soon after the spawning season is over, with 

 the idea of protecting the young fish. The young bass, after 

 they have been assorted as to size, are placed in quarters where 

 they can not be devoured by the old fish, and where they are 

 not so likely to feed upon each other. Under certain conditions 

 this might be a good idea. It involves a very considerable 

 amount of work, and also makes it necessary to handle both 

 the young and the old fish at a season of the year when more 

 or less injury may be done to both of them. We doubt very 

 much whether it is advisable to disturb them under such con- 

 ditions as we have at the Kansas State Fish Hatchery before 

 the first or the middle of August. When other food is plentiful 



