American Fisheries Society. 127 



l)ut rather for the ^nirpose of comparison and to let yovi all knon- 

 how we are getting on down in this "neck of the woods." I'p to 

 this date, July 18th, 1903, we have distributed during this cal- 

 endar year 125,420 black bass, of which about 90,000 were baby 

 fingerlings, 1,000 fry and the rest fingerlings. We were badly 

 crippled in our messenger service owing to the shad work in tlie 

 early part of the season, or we would have distributed 50,000 

 more bass than we have and this is the reason also why more fr\' 

 have not been sent out. When we had adequate messenger serv- 

 ice baby fingerlings came along as fast as we could dispose ol 

 them. In passing I would state that the fry shipped as well 

 as the older fish, although they were sent only about 150 miles. 

 Xow, after this distribution of 125,420 bass, we have in the sta- 

 tion ponds today more fingerlings than we ever had at this sea- 

 son of the year, or, in the opinion of the attaches of the station, 

 more than was ever before in our ponds at one time. 



In concluding on this point I will say that had we twice or 

 three times as many brood fish as we have, there being now 199 

 advilt large mouth black bass in the station ponds, four in num- 

 ber, with a total area of three acres, and with sufficient messen- 

 ger service so that we could have commenced early shipping fry, 

 we could have easily added from one to two hundred thousand to 

 our output this year, for with this plan of distribution there is 

 no necessity of restricting the numbers of brood fish as would be 

 necessary where only fingerlings are to be produced. 



Our baby fingerlings carried practically as well as the finger- 

 lings, in fact in one particular, much better, for by using ice 

 moderately to maintain fairly even temperatures we have been 

 able to ship 1,000 in a ten-gallon can, holding them thus forty- 

 eight hours even in southern Georgia and Alabama in the month 

 of July. Without a single exception, so far as I have been able 

 to find out from our messengers, the applicants have been well 

 pleased with the fish delivered to them, and this is pretty weli 

 attested by the large number of new applicants from the terri- 

 tory first covered which have been sent to the Commissioner, 

 much of Georgia having been covered a second time and a new 

 lot still being in reserve. 



My next point is the absolute elimination of all fishes from 

 the brood ponds except the species that you wish to propagate. 



