Shira. — Rearing the Channel Catfish 81 



it is usually so muddy, or roily, during the spring months, 

 that it is difficult and at times impossible to observe the 

 nesting of the pond fishes. Thus in planning the season's 

 work it was decided that, if no information regarding the 

 spawning of the fish could be obtained by observation, the 

 pond would be drawn as an extreme measure, though it 

 was realized that a sacrifice of a large quantity of the 

 food elements of the pond would be entailed. The tenta- 

 tive date for draining the pond was set as July 1 for two 

 reasons : — 



1. It was thought that this would give ample time for 

 the lapse of the spawning and hatching period and still 

 be sufficiently early to obtain any young that might be in 

 the pond and separate them from the adults before they 

 had made very much growth. 



2. If it was ascertained that spawning had taken 

 place, and yet no young were found, there would still be a 

 sufficient portion of the season remaining to utilize the 

 pond to very good advantage in other experiments. 



During the spring a very careful watch was kept on 

 the pond, but no evidence of spawning was noted and, in 

 truth, it would have been very difficult to have detected 

 such evidence. Not deeming it advisable to get in the 

 pond with a seine, it was determined to slowly draw off 

 the water. This was done and July 6 the water was suffi- 

 ciently low to lay bare the greater area of the pond bot- 

 tom. On walking along the pond-bank, Mr. H. L. Can- 

 field, Superintendent of Fish Culture, saw one of the 

 adult catfish lying in the shallow water and about a foot 

 behind the fish he noted a very compact school of fry. 

 From its size and appearance, the fish was estimated 

 to weigh about three or four pounds. On closer ap- 

 proach the adult fish made a splash and retreated to 

 a deeper portion of the pond, roiling the water consider- 

 ably by its movement. As the water gradually cleared, 

 the fry were still seen schooling in the same place. One 

 of the kegs placed for nesting was nearby and when 

 examined was found to contain a number of fry, evi- 

 dently the remains of the school outside which had left 



