72 OLD BLACK BASS 



months the average may run around six 

 inches ; at the Neosho station a bass known 

 to be under eighteen months of age was 

 found to weigh one pound nine and three- 

 quarter ounces. 



But who would ask how large men are at 

 twenty- five? The question could be put 

 but not answered ; for men vary in size and 

 weight. Some are tall, others short; some 

 fat, others skinny; some big, others small. 

 To strike an average would be to exclude 

 all. 



It is even so with bass. In some Southern 

 waters they have weighed at maturity as 

 much as twenty-three pounds. The coun- 

 try over they vary as men vary. But in 

 Lone Pine he was a big bass that at five 

 years should tip the scales at seven pounds. 



Not that all the members of our school 

 ever reached maturity. A table of vital 

 statistics among men will show that of one 

 hundred thousand children of ten years, 

 ninety-six thousand two hundred and 

 eighty-five live to reach fifteen, ninety-three 

 thousand three hundred and sixty-two reach 

 nineteen, and only eight hundred and forty- 

 seven reach ninety. 



