Lydell. — Progress in Practical Fish Culture 229 



and two feet deep, hatched out very nicely and yielded 

 good results. This tank was supplied with water through 

 a pipe running the length of one side above the surface and 

 pierced with a small hole every two inches which pro- 

 duced a nice spray and caused good aeration. 



The eggs are in semi-buoyant ribbons and are very 

 easily moved; the least circulation will tend to stir them 

 up from the bottom. When left alone they will settle 

 to the bottom of the tank, and if left three or four hours 

 the young fry will smother wherever they come in contact 

 with any object. This can be obviated by taking a hand- 

 net about ten inches square of fine wire cloth stretched 

 tightly over a frame, and moving it through the water 

 until the resulting currents cause the whole mass of eggs 

 to move up from the bottom. This should be done at 

 least once an hour until the fry are hatched, which, if the 

 eggs are eyed when secured, will be only a few days. 



Discussion 



Mr. J. W. TiTCOMB, Albany, N. Y. : I would like to ask Mr. Lydell 

 what temperature he finds most favorable to the hatching of fresh water 

 mussels ; also the nature of the fertilizer used. 



Mr. Lydell : The tempeirature is about sixty. For fertilizer we 

 are using nothing but clam meal ; we can get tons of it in our locality. 



Mr. W. C. Adams, Boston, Mass.: I would like to ask Mr. Lydell 

 whether an excess of tadpoles is injurious to the pond for small-mouth 

 black bass culture? 



Mr. Lydell: We have found them very injurious during the spawn- 

 ing season. We have boys patrolling our ponds in the evening and 

 picking up these toads. We pay them so much a toad and we get 

 barrels of them. We find that one young tadpole will eat more natural 

 food than seven or eight young bass. 



Mr. Adams: Even if the adult bass were to feed on the tadpole 

 when the tadpole was two years old, it would still be disadvantageous 

 to have these tadpoles in a bass pond, in your opinion? 



Mr. Lydell: When a tadpole is two years old it would be a frog. 

 We have very few of them ; they are collected and put into our lakes. 



Mr. Adams : Would the tadpole from the frog be any different 

 from the tadpole from the toad? 



AIr. Lydell: I do not think so. 



