12 THE REPORT OF THE [ No. 68 



have beautiful cottages at various points, while others are accommodated at the 

 numerous hotels and boarding houses or among the farmers. The money which 

 they spend for the actual necessaries alone must in the aggregate amount to 

 many thousands of dollars yearly. Indeed, it is practically the only outlet which 

 the settlers of the new districts have for their produce, and the principal source 

 from which they derive any cash revenue. Good fishing in all sections of the 

 province, therefore, cannot but promote the welfare of every resident to a greater 

 or lesser extent. But this steadily increasing influx of people, and the persistent 

 fishing to which our waters' have in consequence been subjected, have made it 

 manifest that something must immediately be done towards maintaining and in- 

 creasing the supply of fish therein ; and there appears to be no speedier or better 

 method of accomplishing this most desirable objoct than by restocking with the 

 parent fish. It is believed there is no branch of the work of the Department in 

 which so great a number are interested in so many widely separate localities and 

 none which will be more popular with the masses of the people. 



The Black Bass. 



Nearly all of our lakes and streams of any magnitude are well adapted to 

 the black bass, which stands with few rivals as a game fish, and many prefer its 

 flavor to that of the dainty brook trout. No native fish has a mo e extended 

 range. Its fecundity, too, is so great that, given half a chance, a few pair will in 

 a short time populate the waters in which they are placed. The two principal 

 varieties are the small-mouthed and the large-mouthed. The species is somewhat 

 difficult to distinguish, and the generally accepted points of difference sometimes 

 prove misleading. The colors and markings of each vary with age, and the size 

 of the mouth with the size of the fish. The most reliable, and perhaps an infall- 

 ible, means of identification is the number of scales on the cheeks, a larger number 

 (usually 17 rows) being found on the cheeks of the small-mouthed variety than 

 on those of the large-mouthed (usually 10). It is erroneously believed that the 

 large-mouthed variety is less gamey than his small-mouthed cousin, but this per- 

 haps is only experienced where the former is taken in ponds or sluggish waters, 

 for a two pound large-mouthed in our cold or running waters will prove inch for 

 inch every bit as good a fighter as the small mouthed, and is in every sense 

 adapted for transplanting in any part of the Province. The black bass is also so 

 radically different from all other fresh water fishes in its spawning habits, and in 

 the care which it exercises over its young, that the percentage of loss of fry when 

 hatched is very small. Trout and whitefish have been known to devour their 

 eggs as soon as deposited ; and in the case of speckled trout, where these are 

 propagated in ponds, it has frequently been found necessary to remove the parent 

 fish f.om the spawning beds immediately upon the spawn having been deposited, 

 or the etrgs were in danger of being devoured and the season's labor lost. The 

 parent bass, however, will hover about the spawning bed from the time the eggs 

 are cast until the fry has been hatched (usually in from five to ten days, accord- 

 ing to the temperature of the water), and are in a measure able to take care of 

 themselves. Everything, therefore, points to the black bass as being at present 

 the ideal fish with which to stock our waters. 



Sources of Supply. 



Many of our inland lakes in the sparsely settled districts are naturally well 

 stocked with both varieties, and it has been suggested that these lakes might 

 properly be drawn upon for stocking waters which have become depleted. But 

 such a policy is not favored by the Department, not only because these lakes will 

 themselves in turn soon become popular as fishing resorts, and because of the 



