84 THE SMALL-MOUTHED BASS 



a. By maintaining a more vigorous breeding stock, 

 either by annually replacing the stock with fresh breeders 

 from the natural waters, or by rearing the breeders from 

 the egg in the artificial ponds or by selection. 



b. By keeping the brood fish under more natural 

 conditions, in larger and deeper ponds, or, in the case of 

 the small-mouthed bass, where practicable, in running 

 water. 



6. The age at which young bass should be planted is de- 

 pendent in some degree on the kinds and relative abundance 

 of the fish already in the waters to be planted, but present 

 experience does not warrant the expensive practice of rearing 

 large fingerlings or yearlings. 



7. Transference of adult fish should be tried experiment- 

 ally and may be found to be feasible for certain regions or 

 under certain circumstances. 



Two clauses of the foregoing may be specially noticed. 

 The first relates to the lack of vigour of the parent stock, 

 which no doubt causes the death of a large percentage of 

 eggs; and the second to the age at which bass should be 

 transferred, whether in the form of small fry, fingerlings, or 

 adult fish. 



These are the crucial problems in the hatching of bass, 

 and the nearer one approaches natural conditions the better 

 the results. 



My own experience on these questions leads me to sug- 

 gest that for the small-mouthed bass, which is peculiarly 

 susceptible to changes of temperature, and probably also to 

 slight changes in the chemical constituents of the water, no 

 plan is better than the one I tried some years ago with success 

 in Georgian Bay. I selected a pond with a narrow inlet into 

 the bay not more than a few feet in width, and, after carefully 

 stripping it of pike, catfish, dogfish, sunfish, etc., I had a 

 screen of brass wire, one-quarter inch mesh, placed across 

 the outlet. 



