;0 Thirl y-F list Animal Meeting 



was i)l(-'iitv oi' A'c'gftation in the pond and those minnows cleaned 

 np the large-moutli bass so that we did not get twenty-five bass 

 ont of that pond. This year with one-third the amonnt of bass 

 I got nearly 100,000, but there were no minnows in there. 



Q. How old must the bass be before they can be destroyed 

 by the minnows ? 



A. The moment they rise from the bed, that is, when the 

 destruction comes; if they do not destroy them for a couple of 

 weeks they are not going to do it. 



Q. Then would it not be wise not to ship or plant the fry 

 until they were of a proper age? 



A. I never would plant the fry of the large-mouth bass, 

 because what you call fry of the large-mouth bass are very 

 small. 



Mr. Stranahan : And there is not much loss up to the time 

 when they become a perfect fish one and a quarter inches long? 



A. No ; we never ship large-mouth bass until they are nearly 

 two weeks old. 



Dr. Birge : Two weeks old means two weeks after they have 

 begun to rise? 



A. Yes. 



Mr. Titcomb : If you had put the two weeks-old large-mouth 

 bass into that pond where the minnows destroyed the product 

 of your fifteen or twenty beds, would they then have held their 

 own against the minnows ? 



A. TJiey would. We tried that this year. In this pond I 

 had hirge-mouth bass in, I had let a school come up; they were 

 second hiveding, and I had already introduced into that pond 

 for the okl fishes' benefit, several thousand minnows, and this 

 brood came up just after we put those minnows in. 



Q. That is conclusive evidence that it was safe enougii to 

 plant tlicm at that age? 



A. Yes. Most of our large-moulh bass this year we com- 

 menced planting at tliat age. We shi]) out an immense amount 

 of wliat we call hahy (ingcrlings. 



Mr. Titcoinl) : Tliose fisli two weeks old that escape the 

 minnows, do it ])\ Iwing too (|uick for the minnows? 



A. Yes; tlic minnows liave liard work getting them. I have 

 watched a scliool of bass of tliat size moving along the shore. 



