Fish Culturists' Association. 11 





the stream. The Black Bass is a good kind of fish to stock a 

 large, clear, rapid river, with stony bottom, where the crawfish 

 and helffamite are to be found. Thev scarcely ever eat other 

 fish if they can get the crawfish, and I do not recommend put- 

 ting them in any waters where the crawfish is not plenty, and 

 they are rarely found except among the stones. I would not 

 recommend them for small ponds. If Black Bass are put in 

 small ponds they eat the young of all kinds of fish, bite the 

 old fish, and before starving, would eat themselves if possible. 

 They have the bull dog disposition as far as courage is con- 

 cerned, but I think they will not kill except for food. They 

 will not be a great drawback to Shad rivers, for the reason that 

 they live in swift running waters and there are not many Shad 

 in the heavy currents of the rivers. If hatched in swift run- 

 ning water they will be carried down to comparatively still 

 water before they are strong enough to hold their own against 

 the current. The first four days after the young are hatched, 

 they go down stream nearly as fast as the current runs in the 

 river ; after that time they will resist a moderate current, and 

 are always near the middle of the river, and out of the way of 

 their enemies, which are small fish near the shore. 



Last Summer we made a success hatching Sturgeon on the 

 Hudson River. They used to be very plenty, but like all other 

 kinds of fish, were diminishing in number every year, and if it 

 had not been for the discovery of hatching them artificially, they 

 would soon become extinct, and the Albanians would not have 

 any more Albany Beef, and that would be a great calamity ! 

 If we can make Sturgeon plenty again, and I have no doubt 

 ' but that we can, it will be one of the best things we can do to 

 make cheap food for the poor. I remember when they were 

 sold for one cent per pound, while now they sell for ten cents ^ 

 and I have no doubt that within a few years we can make them 

 so plenty they will be as cheap as they were in old times. 



