AMERICAN CATFISHES. 35 



A letter from Columbus, Ga., dated January 18, 1909, says: 



With reference to speckled catfish in Lake Mahignac, I beg to advise that the results 

 were very good. We are catching some of them with hook and line that will weigh 

 from 3 to 4 pounds, others smaller. 



Lexington, Ky., January 23, 1909: 



The fish sent me grew very well. The third j^ear they ran from 3 to 5 pounds. They 

 never increased [in numbers] that we know of. * * * I think the spotted catfish 

 is better adapted to ninning streams. We find plenty of them in Kentucky River. 

 I also think they do well in reservoirs. 



Regarding a consignment of "speckled catfish" planted in private 

 fish ponds, a letter from The Rock, Ga., received January 22, 1909, 

 states : 



The speckled catfish were planted on arrival. They spawned the next season and 

 hatched all right, but do not seem to grow and thrive as they should. It may be that 

 they are not fed on the right kind of food. They are fed usually on cooked corn bread. 

 If they need other food, I do not know what it is. 



From Alva, Okla., under date of January 27, 1909: 



The fish planted in Little Driftwood Lake in 1903 have multiplied until now there 

 are great numbers of them. Three and a half pounds is the largest we have taken 

 out. I also have many sunfish, blue cat, and bullhead cat. This lake supplies us with 

 all the fish we want. We allow many of our neighbors to fish with rod and line, as the 

 fish seem to increase faster than we can use them. 



From Hampton, Ga., January 30, 1909: 



We put the catfish in a pond with just ordinary branch-water supply. They did 

 well and have made quite an increase, at least quite a number have been caught 

 annually from the pond and still it is well supplied with the same kind of fish. 



A note written on the returned circular of inquiry, from \7alnut 

 Cove, N. C, January 30, 1909, regarding the fish planted in a farm 

 pond, states that the old fish are about 18 inches long and that there 

 have been 3^oung fish for the past two years. 



A note dated February 13, 1909, regarding fish planted in Lake 

 Pippin, near Akron, Ohio, states they thrived and multiplied greatl}^, 

 and that it can bo said without fear of contradiction that there is not 

 a nicer body of water or a better stocked lake within the state. 



INTRODUCTION OF CATFISH INTO PACIFIC STATES. 



Dr. H. M. Smith has exhaustively covered this subject up to 1895." 

 He states that three species of catfish — the white catfish (ATneiurus 

 catus), the yellow catfish or bullhead (Ameiurus nebulosus), and the 

 spotted catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) — inhabiting parts of the United 

 States east of the Rocky Mountains, have been transplanted to the 

 Pacific States. The first introduction was in 1874 and consisted of 



"Smith, H. M.: A review of the history and results of the attempts to acclimatize fish and other water 

 animals in the Pacific States. Bull. U. S. Fish Commission, vol. xv, 1895 (189C), p. 379-472. 



