American Fisheries Society. 161 
eights of an inch in only four days, from the 27th to the 31st 
days. And these fish were not sorted out but just simply taken 
as they came, in a small seine. 
Now, after about this size (indicating fish forty days old) 
these fish disappeared from the edges of the pond and were prac- 
tically gone. Once ina while you would find a stray fish, but the 
bulk of them had gone out to deep water. They were growing 
very rapidly. They came back in a certain number of days, which 
my notes here will give—I think about six or seven days—to the 
edge of the pond, and we found these fish, forty-six days old— 
you can see them readily (indicating specimens). There may 
be some in the middle of the pond—t! don’t know how that is. 
Now as nearly as we could find out, in hunting for food, these 

fish went from the edge of the pond into deeper water—either ° 
following food or after another kind of food 

and they probably 
found that food, and at this size (indicating) they came back to 
the edge of the pond. What for? For food, because here we find 
some ten days older and there is practically no difference in the 
size. That is my theory of it gentlemen. 
- Therefore I have come to the conclusion that bass should be 
distributed at the earliest age possible, as baby fingerlings. They 
have grown rapidly up to this time and are still growing; but 
when they came back to find this other food, it is not in the pond, 
and they then begin eating each other up, therefore I think this 
is the proper age to distribute the small-mouth bass, when they 
are baby fingerlings, or fingerlings, if you please. I think when 
small-mouth bass are that size, they will take care of themselves 
as well as if larger. ‘That has been our experience this year. 
From the twenty-eight nests thirteen were productive, from these 
we distributed 15,000 or 20,000 fry, and we still have fish in the 
ponds, but they are gradually growing less and less. I do not 
expect to take 1,000 fish out of these ponds when it comes fall. 
I think with the present arrangement of our ponds we will be 
able to turn out half a million fingerling bass, but I do not think 
it advisable to hold them unless you have an immense pond area. 
Nothing that you can have at any ordinary station will warrant 
holding the fish, for the food is not there in quantities and the 
fish will eat each other up; but for the younger stages we have 
an abundance of food, and I think you will find it true in almost 
