131 



but this time is not known, and it would not be prac- 

 tical any way to isolate each pair, as it would be 

 necessary to do, and provide the constant surveillance 

 necessar}^ to insure seizing the opportunit}^ Moreover, 

 it would be unwise to take the eggs artificially even if 

 it were entirely practical to do so, as we could never 

 hope to equal the natural hatching percentage. Given 

 protection against turtles and water snakes — the male 

 bass will take care of all other intruders — and the 

 natural hatching percentage will often be as high as 

 ninety. Artificial manipulation of adhesive eggs has 

 never reached that figure, and probably never will. 



Although to some extent a repetition of the above, 

 I quote from my report in writing to the Board, filed 

 shortly after the close of last season's bass work: 

 "Previous experiments and a careful observation of 

 the conduct of the parent fish prior to and during the 

 act of spawning, lead to the conclusion that the arti- 

 ficial taking and impregnation of bass eggs is possible 

 only when undertaken at exactly the right moment, or 

 within the limits of a period so brief as to admit of 

 success only on rare occasions. A preliminary coax- 

 ing and caressing by the male seems imperative, not 

 only to bring the female to the point of spawning, but 

 also to develop the milt. These preliminar}^ proceed- 

 ings are sometimes carried on for several hours, and 

 again for only a few^ moments ; if interrupted or 

 handled at this time, or prior to the orgasmic stage, 

 neither the eggs nor milt will flow ; so that artificial 

 impregnation may be accomplished only during the 

 few moments of actual spawning, or after the natural 

 spawning has begun. Under the strictest surveillance 

 the opportunity is too seldom presented or known for 

 practical operations in this direction. In any event, 

 however, we w^ould lose instead of gain by the artificial 

 handling of bass eggs, owing to the relatively high 

 percentage of natural results in protected ponds and 



