80 American Fisheries Society 



pond was stocked with 66 brood fish of medium size, 

 April 24, 1914. These fish were fed cheese and river 

 minnows weekly throughout the summer, but aside from 

 the feeding no further attention was given them. On 

 November 23, 1914, the pond was drained and in addition 

 to the 66 adult fish recovered, 9 young were obtained. 

 The experiment was continued the following Spring with 

 the same stock of brood fish, less 5 which had been re- 

 moved. On November 23, 1915, the pond was drawn and, 

 in addition to the 61 adults recovered, an increase of 7 

 young was noted, measuring from 4 to 8 inches in length. 

 From the standpoint of numbers of young produced, 

 the work during these two years was not at all satis- 

 factory, but from the standpoint of size the results were 

 quite encouraging. The fact that the young catfish 

 reached a maximum length of 8 inches indicated that they 

 did well in the pond and, if numbers as well as size could 

 be obtained, the problem would in a large part be solved. 



Accordingly, it was determined to continue the experi- 

 ment another year and keep a closer check, if possible, 

 on the pond. Thinking that perhaps the fish might do 

 'better in a larger pond, it was decided to use Pond 9 D, 

 the only large pond available, even though it was a new 

 pond. This pond has an area of 0.681 acre and a maxi- 

 mum depth of 7 feet. On May 3, 1916, 34 channel catfish 

 were placed in the pond, some of these fish being brood 

 stock saved from the preceding season and others having 

 been obtained from the Mississippi River during the fall 

 and retained over winter. Four nail kegs to serve as 

 nesting sites were placed in the pond banks at a slight 

 angle above the horizontal and slightly above the bottom 

 of the pond. No vegetation was placed in the pond and 

 throughout the season no growth of aquatic plants ex- 

 cept filamentous algae occurred. 



In order to keep a closer check on the experiment 

 and note the results being obtained, it was decided to 

 drain the pond about July 1, if necessary, to learn 

 whether or not any increase had been obtained. As the 

 water which supplies the ponds is taken from the river, 



