FISH PONDS ON FARMS, 17 
in area, where the temperatures and other physical characteristics 
conform to those of its natural habitat. Rock bass and sunfish will 
live congenially with the smallmouth black bass, and can be success- 
fully propagated in the same ponds with them. 
LarGeMoUuTH BLACK BAss (MMicropterus salmoides).—Known lo- 
cally as straw bass, green bass, bayou bass, Oswego bass, trout, and 
chub. Its range is from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the 
Atlantic coast to the Rocky Mountains. The species is prolific in 
congenial waters, but reaches its greatest size in the warmer lakes 
and more sluggish streams of the South. Its maximum weight is 
authentically stated to be from 20 to 25 pounds, though in most lo- 
calities it does not exceed a weight of 6 pounds, and the average is 
probably less than 3 pounds. 
Because of their size and cannibalistic tendencies the two species 
of black bass should be selected only for ponds not less than 2 acres 
in area. The largemouth species is equally well adapted to cultiva- 
tion in northern or southern climates, but its cultivation in the former 
should be restricted to waters attaining maximum temperatures. 
Crappie, sunfish, and warmouth bass are suitable species to introduce 
in waters with the largemouth bass. 
The two black basses are frequently confounded, but they have con- 
trasting marks of distinction, which vary somewhat with their en- 
vironment. They may be reliably classified by the number of rows of 
scales on the check, the largemouth possessing 10 and the small- 
mouth 17 rows. The mouth of the former species extends back of the 
eye, and that of the smallmouth even with the anterior margin of 
the eye. 
Crappie (Pomozis annularis) —Commonly called bachelor, camp- 
bellite, new light, sac-a-lait, tinmouth, crapet, and chinquapin. Its 
range is from New York and Vermont westward through the Great 
Lakes region and the Mississippi Valley to the Dakotas, and south 
to Texas. It inhabits sluggish muddy water and reaches a length of 
1 foot in its most southerly range. The crappie is an excellent pan 
fish and should be generally cultivated where conditions are favor- 
able. It is an extremely delicate fish to handle, its protruding eyes 
being easily injured and frequently blinded when constantly exposed 
to direct sunlight in clear water. In ponds devoted primarily to the 
propagation of crappie many fish-culturists introduce carp, suckers, 
or other bottom feeders, as the resulting turbid water seems to be a 
favorable condition for them. The natural habitat of the crappie 
suggests its suitability for ponds containing largemouth black bass 
or catfish, where the water supply is drawn from turbid streams or 
furnished by surface drainage. 
Catico Bass (Pomowis sparoides).—Al|so known as strawberry bass, 
grass bass, and barfish. Is abundant in the Great Lakes region and 
