NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 17 
o 
square, the sides sloping, and put a tight board-fence around the 
pond a few feet from the water, and nail a board across the top 
of each corner of the fence, to prevent the crawfish from climb- 
ing out at the corners, leaving room so that they can get out on 
the land; as they like to in the night, for when they wish to move 
they will travel a great ways during the night. If the soil is 
soft care should be taken to have the bottom of the pond and the 
sides clear to the fence lined with some kind of material that 
they cannot dig through, as they travel inthe ground like a mole. 
Their skeletons and their holes can be seen all over the western 
prairies, miles from any water. 
There should not be any other kind of animals or fish in the 
pond, as they have many enemies, of which I will mention a 
few: frogs, snakes, toads, lizards, owls, cranes, coons, musk- 
rats, mink, and many kinds of fish. The pond should have some 
earth and flat stones in the bottom, so that they can burrow in 
the earth or get under the stones. You can stock your pond by 
going to a stony brook and turning over the stones and slabs and 
catching the crawfish with your hands or a small scoop-net. A 
few hundred mature crawfish will bring you many thousand 
young the first year. They are great breeders; they carry their 
spawn under their tails until they hatch. They are also great 
scavengers ; they will eat any kind of animal matter, or any for- 
mation between animal and vegetable. They mature in about 
three or four years. 
I take pleasure in reading the following lettef, as it gives 
actual results of fish-culture. JI am constantly in receipt of let- 
ters from all parts of the state, showing the appreciation of the 
people of our labors : 
- FISH STOCKING. 
WHAT IT HAS DONE .FOR OTSEGO. LAKE. 
The following letter speaks for itself. It is from the beau- 
tiful village which was the home of James Fennimore Cooper, 
and refers to the lake which he has made famous for all time: 
