76 TJiirfi/scn'iilli Annual Meeting 



wood and clay pipes and at times giving- serious trouble. '^Plie 

 water supply consists of one artesian well, with an average flow 

 of about five hundred gallons per minute, and a ten horse power 

 gasoline pumping plant. This plant gives after two years use, 

 six hundred gallons per minute, the two supplies giving barely 

 enough to supply the twenty-three jjoiids, owing to the fact that 

 we have nearly nine months of summer. 



The station was fitted u]) for a l)lack bass station, water con- 

 ditions l)eing quite suital)le for the large mouth variety, tliey 

 oidy being propagated and witli them we have been quite suc- 

 cessful. We also propagate the two crappies, bream, warmouth 

 bass, and rock bass, all doing well except crappie ; the water con- 

 ditions of the station seem unsuited to their propagation. 



We have also tried to ])ropagate the l)lue channel catfish for 

 the past three years, but liave met with total failure. On com- 

 ing to this station some twelve years ago 1 had made iip my mind 

 that 1, ()()() shipping fish to tlie ])air of breeders would l)e a fair 

 I'esult ( 1 mean Ijy shipping fish — young fish from two to six in- 

 ches long). I now think that sixty per cent of that number is a 

 fair average, however, our ])lants of fish two to six inches have 

 bt'cii wonderfully successful, in fact we have not met with a I'ail- 

 ui'e to stock any waters where w^e have made plants of lilack bass. 

 With oiii' jierch, excepting bream, we have never had abundant 

 results. This is caused to some extent l)y devoting a small water 

 area to their propagation and this has been caused by the great 

 demand for the l)lack bass. 



The method of work pursued at this station is to conform as 

 near to nature as possible. The ])onds were constructed so as to 

 have the largest area of sliallow water, thus securing in early 

 s])ring an al)undance of natural food, and protection for our 

 young 1ish, and all l)reeding jionds are provided with gravel 

 nesting places. I at one time provided artificial nests, with vary- 

 ing success. These, with other experiments, their failure and 

 success if told would take uj) too much space in this paper. T 

 have found that the first great essential is to provide the very 

 l)est breeding fish to start with. Xot the very large and possibly 

 old fish, but fish that will run from two and one-half to three 

 pounds, well proportioned; not the long race horse kind. Fish, 

 like everything else have their fine points. The nearer they are of 



