Spawning. 79 



bodies of water, where the nests are found, renders it impossible 

 for the spawn of the fish which inhabit them to properly develop 

 if deposited there, and the nest building is resorted to to aid in a 

 better or more speedy hatching of the eggs? Perhaps more sun- 

 light is wanted. I am at a, loss to give a better explanation of 

 the matter." 



The TJ. S. Bureau of Fisheries and the Fish Commis- 

 sions of several states have been experimenting for some 

 years in the pond culture of black bass; in most instances 

 by furnishing artificial nests of various kinds, in which the 

 bass spawn. When the fry rise from the nests they are in- 

 closed by screens or netting and subsequently removed to 

 nursery ponds. This plan has not yet been attended by 

 extraordinary success. The most practical way, so far, is 

 to stock new waters with the parent fish and allow them to 

 breed naturally. It is to be hoped, in view of the great 

 demand for small black bass for stocking purposes, that the 

 artificial plan mentioned, or some other, may be crowned 

 with complete success. 



About 1868 to 1870, while residing in Wisconsin, I ex- 

 perimented with the natural propagation of the black bass, 

 by placing a number of adult fish of both species in a pond 

 on my home grounds, which I connected with a lake by a 

 roomy ditch. From blinds of bushes on the banks I 

 watched, faithfully, the nesting and spawning of the fish 

 for several seasons. A few days after the fry left the nests 

 the parent fish were driven out of the pond and through 

 the ditch into the lake. Suitable screens were then placed 

 in the ditch and the young bass were kept until late in the 

 autumn, when they too were turned into the lake. I 

 reared many thousands each season in this way, which was 

 but a slight modification of nature's plan. 



