FISH PONDS ON FARMS, 25 
cepted, and will produce the strongest growth, though cooked cereals 
or vegetables will answer, and are even relished by young catfish 
when given in the raw state. 
The food should be scattered along the natural feeding grounds, 
starting with a small amount and increasing the quantity to what the 
fish will daily consume. Care should be taken to prevent the pollu- 
tion of the pond through the decomposition of excess food. 
The young basses and crappies can not be successfully fed, and 
must depend entirely upon the insect life in the pond for their 
sustenance. For this reason no more young fish of these species 
should be carried in a pond than the natural food supply contained 
therein will support. 
When such food is inadequate for the number of fish in a pond the 
only alternative will be the provision of additional ponds, to which 
a portion of the fry may be transferred for rearing. A public- 
spirited course would be to plant the surplus stock in neighboring 
public waters, taking care not to introduce them into streams and 
lakes which should be reserved to trout or salmon, as their presence 
would be detrimental to the latter species. Such a policy pursued 
by several fish-culturists in a given vicinity would maintain good 
public fishing, without diminishing to any appreciable extent the 
quantity of edible fish in the waters under private control. Ordi- 
narily well-constructed ponds are capable of producing from two to 
ten times the number of fry that can be reared therein. The surplus 
is of some value as food for the stronger specimens, but would be of 
much greater value if liberated in adjacent lakes or streams. 
CAPACITY OF A POND FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FISH. 
It is difficult to estimate the capacity of ponds for the various 
stages in the growth of fish. It depends for the most part upon the 
amount of appropriate food available. A 2-acre pond producing 
10,000 one-year-old black bass from 4 to 6 inches long would be a 
remarkably successful enterprise, and 20,000 one and one-half to two 
inch yearling crappie or sunfish to an acre of water would be like- 
wise notable. These numbers have been realized and in some in- 
stances exceeded, but the average results are doubtless much smaller. 
The stock will be decreased through cannibalism at least 50 per 
cent by the end of the second year, and the yearlings held over will 
consume a large percentage of the fry hatched during the second 
and succeeding years of operations. Enough should survive, how- 
ever, to maintain the adult stock at the maximum number that the 
pond will support. 
In waters of high temperature those species adapted to culture in 
ponds will attain maturity and reproduce at the age of 2 years. In 
