Stranahan. — Sun fish Culture 185 



meat scrap. This sample was tried and a larger one re- 

 quested and tried and finally a sack of 100 pounds was 

 ordered. The food was tried out on fry and adults of the 

 various species on the grounds with most gratifying results, 

 even the small-mouth black bass, rock bass, catfish, etc., all 

 taking it with much relish and thriving on it so far as we 

 know up to the time of writing. Of course our greatest 

 success was with the fry of the sunfish for the reason that 

 we had them in greater numbers and because we were bend- 

 ing every effort to make a success of their production on a 

 large scale. 



This food is about like fine corn meal and about as free 

 from lumps. It mixes readily with water and after being 

 so mixed sinks slowly to the bottom of the ponds, thus giving 

 the fry time to collect it. We have tried two sacks of a 

 coarser grade, about like grits, which is probably better for 

 the fingerlings, but it is not so desirable for the fry and does 

 not form into a tenacious dough for feeding adults as well 

 as the finer grade. 



Our mode of feeding with this prepared food is to put a 

 pint or two into a wide shallow pail or pan, adding a pint of 

 water on one side and mixing in enough feed to make a thin 

 gruel. This we take into the hollow of the hand formed 

 into a cup and cast it over the surface of the water much 

 in the manner that a farmer would sow grain, taking two or 

 three steps between each cast so as to have them lap a little, 

 thus making an even distribution and preventing waste. 

 More water is added to the mixture every few rods, and the 

 aim is to get the food to the fish as soon as possible after the 

 water is added in order to avoid dissolving the albuminoids, 

 which must constitute a considerable portion of the food 

 constituents of the material. 



We began feeding twice a clay, morning and evening, 

 but later decided that this was not enough and added a noon- 

 day ration with the small fish and fry, especially those in 

 the fry ponds, and I am now of the opinion that where the 

 best results are desired the feeding should be resorted to 



