Cushman. — Bass Propagation 115 



Much difficulty is experienced in getting adults cap- 

 tured in their wild state to take artificial food, and there 

 are always quite a number that never can be taught to 

 take it. To meet this difficulty branch minnows should 

 be collected and given them. 



Whatever the food may be, it must be given in amount 

 sufficient to keep the fish in good condition, as good re- 

 sults cannot be obtained with breeders that are poor or 

 starved. 



Spawning Pond 



The spawning pond should be large enough to contain 

 enough nests for all the adults. A pond containing an 

 area of one, or one and one-fourth acres would be large 

 enough for three of four hundred adults, which should 

 produce sufficient fry for five or six rearing ponds each 

 with an area of one acre. 



From one-half to two-thirds of this pond should have 

 a depth of eighteen to twenty-four inches in which to set 

 the nests, twenty-five or thirty nests to one hundred 

 adults being about the right proportion. 



It is advisable for the following reasons to confine all 

 adults in one pond. First, you get the benefit of all the 

 males, whereas, if adults are divided and placed in sev- 

 eral ponds there is likely to be a surplus of males in one 

 pond and a deficiency in another. In the latter case there 

 will be a loss of eggs through lack of fertlization. Sec- 

 ond, by confining all the adults in one pond, the re- 

 maining ponds will be available for rearing fingerlings. 

 Third, the spawning season extends over a period of 

 several weeks, which makes quite a difference in the size 

 of the fry of the first and the last spawn. This makes 

 it necessary to have separate ponds in which to place 

 fry of different ages. 



Rearing Ponds 



The biggest problem in bass culture is the rearing of 

 young bass to good sized fingerlings. This problem is 

 solved in the rearing pond. The rearing pond is to the 



