LTV REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



sink to the bottom and cat it lazily, but rise to the siiiracc, lanhiiiji; the water into 

 foam, and exhil)it every appearance of enjoyment. 



Tlie black bass (Micropteriis salmoidca) in our ponds decline mush in any form, and 

 can not be made to eat it. When Bometimcs mixed with considerable liver they 

 will take it in the mouth, but (juickly spit it out. The same results have attended 

 frecjuent trials Avith crackers, Ijakera' bread, and dog biscuit. Tliey seem averse to 

 vegetable diet. We have been able to induce them to eat noTliing but liver — and it 

 must be fresh and sweet. (Of course Ave have not tried minnows or other fish, our 

 elVorts being to overcome their natural instincts to eat fish.) When the liver, as it 

 will occasionally in the summer, becomes the least tainted, the bass decline it. 

 Occasionally they decline any and every thing to eat. This ])eculiarity of the bass 

 is well known to anglers. (Book of the Black Bass, Henshall, p. 360.) In our 

 ponds they never eat on ''nasty," raw days; but on pretty days they follow one 

 around the pond secerning to beg for food. They are A'ery active after the Hies here 

 in summer (but less so than the rainbow trout), and have been seen to kill and 

 ))artially eat a snake. Unquestionably they devour the largest part of their young 

 after the school leaves the nests and disperses. 



The channel cattish (the original stock from Grand River, Indian Territory) eat 

 the mush greedily. During the late fall, winter, and early spring they are dormant 

 and never come for their food. Such as may be offered to them at this time sinks to 

 the bottom and remains unnoticed. At other times of the year they rise to the sur- 

 face and eat the mush ravenously, reminding one of pigs. They are, as is generally 

 known among anglers, very fond of liver, it, in fact, being a favorite bait for them. 

 Very rarely we mix a small amount of liver with their mush. (See U. S. Fish Com- 

 mission Bulletins, 1883, p. 419; 1884, p. 321; 1886, p. 137.) 



To our rock bass we occasionally give a small quantity of liver, but it is very 

 doubtful if they ever eat any of it. They will at times pugnaciously dart out and 

 take a small piece in their mouth, to immediatelj^ spit it out. It is thought that the 

 presence of small quantities of liver in their pond assists in breeding the insects 

 which seem to furnish the bulk of their food. 



To the golden ides, goldfish, tench, and carp we feed mush unmixed with liver. 

 They are fond of liver, but it does not seem necessary to their keeping. 



The quantity of food given to the pond fish is varied according to the number of 

 fish, size of pond, season of year, and condition of weather. No definite rule seems 

 possible. Not only does the appetite of the fish vary, but scarcely any two ponds 

 have the same capacity for producing natural food to supply the lacking necessary 

 ingredients of the artificial food. Again, the artificial food which might be econom- 

 ically used in one locality w^onld be beyond profitabh^ employment in another. It 

 may be found that cotton seed can be profitably employed in feeding certain warm- 

 pond fish in some southern localities. It would scarcely bo economical in Pennsyl- 

 vania or Ohio. At the Cold S])ring Harbor hatchery on Long Island, New York, they 

 have been using horse meat for the past six months At the Forest Hill hatchery, 

 St. Louis, Mo., the refuse of the cracker factories of St. Louis is used for feeding carp. 



The trout meutioued iu the letter following was 28 months old at the 



time of capture: 



KoGKRS, Ark., June S, 1892. 



Dear Sir: Your kiiul favor of April 21 was received. To-day I received a rain- 

 bow trout from Silver Springs race and spring, where we dei)osited .500 trout received 

 from you December, 1890, or January, 1891. It weighs, dressed, 3 pounds, measures 

 22 inches from tip 1o tip, and was full of spawn. Am sorry it was caught. We do 

 not allow fishing, but this one jumi)ed the bars. Have taken a cast of it in plaster. 

 Two or three smaller fish have been taken out, but this seems to show what they can 

 do in our water. No food has been furnished them. * » * 



Respectfully, vours, 



J. G. Bailey, 



President Silver Springs Milling Company. 

 Mr. Page, Neosho, Mo. 



