APPENDIX. 27 



thrown promiscuously into a pond, there i& an inexplicable 

 but constant waste going on all the time, and the greater 

 the number of fish, compared with the size of the pond, 

 the greater the waste becomes. Then, again, the streams 

 which are generally used for growing trout are too small 

 to supply natural food to any large number of fish, while 

 at the same time the ponds built on them, are too large to 

 allow of systematic artificial feeding. The consequence is 

 that the young trout above a certain numerical limit die 

 of starvation. It is therefore very desirable indispensable 

 we may say to confine them where the waste just men- 

 tioned may be prevented or at least observed and accounted 

 for, and where they can be held well in hand, for the pur- 

 poses of artificial feeding. It is with these objects in view 

 that the rearing-box is constructed, and it is thought that 

 it will revolutionize the system of trout raising, as from 

 60 to 80 per cent, of young fry can now be raised, even 

 when millions are experimented with, while by the old 

 method of pond growing, it was difficult to rear any con- 

 siderable percentage in so limited a number even as ten 

 thousand. The rearing-box now in use at the Cold Spring 

 Ponds, seems to combine all the requisite points, and is 

 recommended to all, who prefer to adopt this method of 

 rearing trout or salmon. 



Another branch of the Cold Spring Ponds is the black 

 bass department. The stock of black bass breeders at the 

 ponds is not extensive, but large numbers of this fish have 

 been caught, and are now confined in ponds in the state 

 of New York, and in the northern part of Vermont, for 

 use during the spawning season, which contrary to the 

 usual statements in books, is for that latitude, during the 

 month of June, instead of April and May.* From these 



*In the chapter on naturalization, I mentioned the size of bass 

 at a year old in a pond near Newburgh, and remarked also that I 



