Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 223 



No stream or lake should be stocked with fish until it has been 

 carefully studied by a competent biologist and found to possess 

 the conditions or factors of a favorable environment for the fish 

 which it is proposed to introduce. Fish culturists should adopt 

 this principle and adhere to it as an invariable policy. The rule- 

 of-thumb, cut-and-try method so uniformly followed has brought 

 no credit to fish culture in America. 



ICE 



Introduction 



It is not until one has watched the coming of the ice over the 

 lake several times and during several winters, that he realizes how 

 much variety there can be in that apparently simple process, and 

 how far from correct it would be to judge the behavior of the ice 

 one winter from having seen it during another. 



The freezing over of Lost Lake is always about the same. That 

 body of water, being of comparatively small size and shallow depth, 

 readily freezes over the first severe night after the whole mass of 

 water has become chilled down to near the freezing point, and 

 we usually have a smooth clear sheet of ice spread over its surface 

 rather early in the winter. This sheet being transparent, does 

 not greatly alter the appearance of the lake ; indeed, on one occasion 

 we saw a duck in the middle of this lake on the slippery ice one 

 evening after it had frozen over, it probably having mistaken the 

 clear ice for open water. 



Lake Maxinkuckee, with its greater area and volume of water, 

 cools down much more slowly, and usually has ice simply skirting 

 its edges by the time Lost Lake is completely frozen over. If the 

 weather continues steadily calm and cold, the lake freezes over 

 rather quickly, although it usually takes several days even of the 

 most favorable weather for the lake to freeze entirely over, as its 

 surface is always more or less disturbed by winds, some pools in 

 various places toward the center usually persisting open for a few 

 days. If, on the other hand, the weather in early winter is rough 

 and windy, the freezing of the lake is much delayed and is a slow 

 and long continued process — full of interesting details, resembling 

 in many respects the freezing of large lakes, such as Lake Michi- 

 gan. The winter of 1900-1901 was just such a blustery winter and 

 gave opportunity to study the ice formation in great detail. 



The ice first forms in sheltered calm places and any object that 

 breaks the wind or tends to calm the water tends to the formation 

 of a sheet of ice. Thus ice appears early not only along the shore 



15—17618 



