Anirricdii Fislirries Society. 151 



^I]-. Clark: Is it not a fad that the cxpcriciKf of fisli cul- 

 tui'ists has been gained largely through failures? The success 

 of fish culture in the United States at the present time is due to 

 our failures. If we had not had discouragements in the early 

 life of the different classes of lish that we .have been working on, 

 1 do not think fish culture would l)e today where it is I have 

 liad failure iipon failure all through my life, and still in the 

 main [teople call me a successful fish culturist. 



The President: We have grown wise through a ])i'ocess of 

 elimination. 



^Ir. Lydell : Our ]\Iill Creek station two years ago was so 

 near a complete failure that the fish commission told me that if 

 they did not have their money in there they would not stay there 

 another minute, but 1 told them *'You had better hang on;" 

 there are lots of things to work out. We have got to keep on 

 studying — don't give it up. I had there that season one hun- 

 dred and some odd beds; we would have the fish all liatched on 

 the bed and then a thunder storm would come up in the night 

 and the fish would all be dead the next morning, and I would lay 

 it to the thunder storm I T.lu' less a man commits himself on the 

 l)ass question the less he will have to take hack in five or six years 

 from now. (laughter) because the conditions in dilfereut locali- 

 ties ha\e a great deal to do with the matter. 



Mr. Peabody: Which are the easiest for culture, the large- 

 mouth or the small-mouth bass ? 



Mr. Lydell: In my experience I have not found anv very 

 great difference. I think you have got to be a givat deal inoi'(> 

 careful in sorting your snuiU-mouth l)ass than you have your 

 large-mouth bass. On one occasion we just dum])i'd the large- 

 mouth bass ])romiscu()Us]y into the ])()n(ls, and only got five beds. 

 Thercd'ore, I concluded that we had live fenudes in the lot; hut 

 they do not seem to trouble one another like the small-mouth 

 l)ass. We had one vear a lot of small-mouth about twtdve inches 

 long, and they weiv all males. 'Idicy seeme(l to band together 

 like a lot of (mtlaws. They would go around the large ])ond, 

 come to a \)iur of bass s])awiiing. and all di\f into that nest, and 

 I have seen ten or fifteen of them just standing on their heads 

 and rooting the whole thing up; and I drew the jjoikI down in 

 the spawning season and took all those fish out and threw them 



