150 TJiiyty-nintli Annual Meeting 



Having proper natural conditions the next requirement 

 is suitable ponds, either natural or artificial, and of these 

 there should be three distinct kinds of different sizes — 

 spawning ponds, nursery ])()n(ls, and storage or shipping- 

 pools. As to the construction of the spawning ponds, in my 

 observation the larger and deeper ponds yield the best 

 results. A pond should be not less than one acre in extent, 

 should have an oval or bowl shape, with a large area of shoal 

 water, and an inlet at one end and an outlet at the other, in 

 order to produce a current through the entire pond. The 

 sloping bottom should graduall}' increase to a depth of from 

 six to nine feet at the kettle and outlet. Nests, preferably 

 of small gravel, should be placed over the bottoms of the 

 ponds about 6 feet from the bank and about 20 feet apart, 

 the nests being from 18 to 20 inches in diameter. These 

 ponds should be well supplied with aquatic plants, which not 

 only afford the fish a hiding place from their enemies but are 

 essential to the presence of the animal life which constitutes 

 the food of the young fish. 



On account of the cannibalism among the young fish of 

 some of the species, the larger ones mercilessly devouring 

 the smaller and weaker, it becomes necessary to construct 

 smaller ponds called nursery ])on(ls into which the young- 

 fish are assorted as to size when taken from the spawning- 

 pond. In the building of these ponds great care should be 

 taken to aft'ord the young fish protection from their enemies 

 and to have them well supplied with suitable vegetation, 

 Crustacea, small insects and other natural food. A pond 

 50 feet long by 25 feet wide, with a depth of 3 feet at the 

 outlet, would be of good working size. 



The storage or shipping pools are used for holding young 

 fish when taken from the nursery ponds for shipment. They 

 are small pools with concrete bottoms, a six inch brick wall 

 for the sides, with a thick cement coating over bottom and 

 sides, and are 6 feet wide by 12 feet long, the bottom 

 gradually sloping to a depth of three feet at the outlet. 



