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cule, better facilities will be offered for the attainment of irnpror- 

 ed breeds for stocking ponds. At present it is not only imprac- 

 ticable to obtain suitable fry for this purpose, but there are very 

 few who know how to undertake stocking with native fish. Th* 

 conditions to be preserved are these: 



Dams that will stand. 



Small areas of water. 



Introduction of limited varieties of fish. 



Ability at all times to draw off the water. 



Preparation of gravelly places for spawning. 



Introduction of water plants. 



Protection. 



Drive wooden piling to build the dam on and make a waste- 

 way sufficient to carry all surplus water. Protect the waste- way 

 with wire netting. In most instances it does not matter if the 

 bottom of the pond is muddy and especially in the case of bream 

 and blue perch. All the banks several feet out from the water's 

 edge and foot under the water should be scraped clean to the 

 Band with a hoe to dislodge crawfish, terrapins, and snakes. For 

 ordinary purposes small ponds are preferable. Where one or a 

 number of these can be arranged on clear sandy streams a single 

 variety may be introduced into each and the young annually re- 

 moved to larger ponds. The great loss in fish is in the 

 eggs. A single variety in a small of an acre pond can increase 

 and avoid depredations of other fish. Our native perch deposit 

 twenty to thirty thousand eggs. No effectual means of extermina- 

 ting the jack fish can be used, except the careful and thorough 

 preparation of [a flood gate of medium size, protected 

 over the face of out-flow with wire cloth. Every two years 

 the water should be lowered and the fish sorted out, and jack 

 fish and pike removed. I believe jack fish eggs are carried by 

 some mechanical means into various waters, as perhaps by cling- 

 ing ^o the feet of water-fowl. 



Gravel or sand beds in the shallow water near the inlet will 

 afford natural spawning grounds. If not present it should be 

 put there. 



Water plants afford numberless insects and should be intro- 



