A MIXED STRING 171 



as 95 per cent of the eggs from a muskellunge have 

 been hatched artificially, while in a state of nature a 

 tenth of that would probably be a big hatch. 



With the black bass we experience something else, 

 because it is not practicable to hatch them artificially. 

 The female suffers a severe nervous shock when 

 handled, which prevents easy stripping of spawn, and 

 the adhesive character of the eggs makes them dif- 

 ficult, almost impossible, to fertilize. In spite of these 

 limitations, however, the propagation of black bass is 

 now being done on a large scale. In Illinois, for ex- 

 ample, the state hatchery at Spring Grove turns out 

 upward of a million bass fry annually, and their ca- 

 pacity is steadily being increased. 



The propagation of the black bass is being done 

 by permitting the fish to mate and spawn naturally 

 under favorable conditions, and the good results ob- 

 tained are due to the care the young receive after 

 they are hatched. 



A female bass will yield as much as 25 per cent of 

 her weight in eggs. In the natural state but a small 

 proportion of these ever become mature fish, due to 

 the numerous enemies the young bass have to contend 

 with. Not only do perch, minnows, and other fishes 

 prey on them, but the little rascals are terrible can- 

 nibals. The small mouth bass hardly reaches the ad- 

 vanced fry stage, when he commences to prey on his 

 brothers, and the large mouth is a cannibal from the 

 yearling stage on. 



Parenthetically, while this cannibalism in the bass 



