64 21iirti/-Flrst Aniiiial Meeting 



A. 1 wduld not put as iiianv in in this little lake that we 

 rented. By the way, I think renting that little lake was one of 

 the greatest things that the fish commission ever allowed me to 

 do. 1 rented it for -$10 a year, if the output does not exceed 

 75,000, and if it does, I must pay the gentleman $1."). Of course 

 that is a lot of money. 



Dr. Birge : That must affect your $75,000 considerably. 



Mr. Lvdell : I put the first season into that lake 48 or 50 

 fish rai(>ed at the hatchery, two years old, large-mouth bass. I 

 think it was something like ti0,000 or 70,000 fry I got out of 

 there the first season, and last fall I procured forty-four or 

 more large-mouth bass, adults, weighing anywhere from two to 

 three pounds, and put them in there. I also put in a couple of 

 wagonloads of minnows, probably 50,000 or 75.000. This year 

 we got from that pond 2G2,000 fry, and 8,000 fingerling, and I 

 was quite sorry that it went to that number, l)ecause the fish 

 commission had to put up another $5. ( Jjaughter). We have 

 absolute control of this pond, and it is covered with chara 

 nearly all over, with the exception of a little in the center; and 

 ou one end there are some pond lilies. It is nothing but mud; 

 you cannot wade anywhere near it without nd)ljer boots, and 

 then you are liable to drop through the bogs, and there is only 

 one place for them to spawn, and that is on the pond lily roots; 

 and we had bass beds in that lake this year that were over ten 

 feet across, and I went there as the young bass were coming up 

 off the beds, and I presume two or three pair of bass must have 

 spawned on that partic-ular spot, for the young Ijass were com- 

 ing u]) all ()\('r that l>ed, where it had l)een cleane<l. Yon, could 

 see them if the sun hai^pened to he just right. We k>t those 

 alone ill I hat pond — ])ai(l no attention to them — until they 

 were ahonl 15 days old. when they were all taken out of there, 

 and nearly every lish thai was shijjped from that pond was one 

 and a half inches to one and tlu'ee-quarters long, and we took 

 them with a seine. 



.Mr. Titeomb: What was the area of that i)ond ? 



A. I should judge it was about an acre and a .half — it is 

 a snia.ll pond. 



The President: Let me ask you a question on another line: 

 At our Min()C([iia hatclu'ry we are right in a nest of bass lakes, 



