THE PIKES : DISTETBUTION AND COMMEECTAL IMPORTANCE. 23 



How widely such computations may differ appear from Ekstrom's 

 observations. He found that pike fry 37 to 49 millimeters (about 

 1.45 to 1.90 inches) long, kept in a spring with muddy bottom, only 

 attained in 5 years the size of a common herrmg, but that a specimen 

 15 centimeters (about 5.88 inches) long, kept m another spring with 

 smaller fish to feed on, attained in 5 years a length of 4 decimeters 

 (about 15.70 inches). 



Whitmark gave a number of statements from authorities in differ- 

 ent parts of Germany showing the annual rate of growth of the pike, 

 which appears to vary from 2 to 3 pounds, the maximum size attained 

 being from 40 to 70 pounds. He cited one instance in which, in two 

 summers, a few individuals liberated in a pond full of a species of 

 carp grew from the weight of If to that of about 10 pounds. 



Frank Buckland was of the opinion that pikes did not become egg- 

 bearing under the weight of 3 pounds (Jardine, 1898). 



CULTURE AND CONSERVATION. 



Notwithstanding its growing scarcity, the idea of any need of cul- 

 ture or conservation appears not to have been generally entertained. 

 Appairently no attempts at artificiaAl propagation have been made. 



In the words of Forbes (1908), tliis noble fish, completely and almost 

 ideally equipped for the predatory life, has now nearly disappeared 

 from the larger and muddier streams of Illinois, but it is still found 

 in abundance in the headwaters of the Kankakee and in the small 

 glacial lakes of the northeastern part of the State. 



Chambers (1896) regarded it as fortunate that in many of the Lake 

 St. John waters, where it has been systematically fished during recent 

 years, the pike is very much less abimdant than formerly. 



In New England, about 1838, the fish, it seems, was transplanted 

 from Lake Champlam into a pond connected with Black River, Wind- 

 sor County, Vt., and thence carried by a freshet mto the Connecticut 

 River. In 1846 Dr. Storer (1848) reported the capture of this species 

 in the Connecticut River, a specimen having been sent to him by Mr. 

 William Henry, of Bellows Falls, Vt. Mr. Henry reported that he 

 had known, in some seasons, 100 or more to be taken at Bellows Falls, 

 weighing from 1 to 14 pounds each. 



There are probably other instances of its having been trans- 

 planted, but its artificial propagation has not been encouraged m 

 this country. However, regarding the British pike, Jardine (1898) 

 wrote that inland lakes, ponds, and brooks were lying useless and 

 pike would well repay cultivation in them, for they grow and fatten 

 with great rapidity. 



FOOD QUALITIES. 



As a food fish the pike is of no small value. The flesh is white, 

 firm, wholesome, and comparatively free from bones. Fresh pike is 

 by no means a bad dish, and the flesh has advantage over that of 



