Stocking Waters. 115 



In transporting black bass for the purpose of stocking 

 new waters, great foresight, care, and judgment must be 

 used. The size and number of the fish, the distance they 

 are to be carried, and the length of time to be consumed 

 in the journey, must all be taken into consideration. The 

 size and number of the fish will determine the size and 

 number of the containers ; thus, while a common wash-tub 

 would be a safe receptacle to transport twenty-five bass, six 

 inches in length, for a long distance, it would not be suffi- 

 cient for half the number of double the size, for it would 

 require a vessel that would contain at least one and a half 

 times the quantity of water. This is a safe rule to follow, 

 and calculations can be made accordingly. 



For small fish, six to eight inches long, the largest size 

 wash-tubs are well adapted, but for larger fish the carrier 

 must be much deeper. If barrels are used they need not be 

 perfectly new, but they should not retain any vestige of 

 their former contents, as vinegar, oil, whisky, etc. The 

 best ones would be those that had been used to hold water 

 for a long time. Wooden tanks, constructed for the pur- 

 pose, will answer, provided they have been soaked in run- 

 ning water a sufficient length of time to take up and re- 

 move all the soluble matter of the wood, as tannic acid, 

 etc. Metal tanks, constructed of galvanized iron, heavy 

 tin, etc., though more expensive, are to be preferred, but 

 they must be rendered perfectly clean before the fish are 

 put into them. 



If the number of fish to be carried is large, it is much 

 better to provide a sufficient number of containers than to 

 crowd the fish. Except in railroad cars especially con- 

 structed for the purpose, there is no good plan yet devised 

 for aerating water, while in transit, by forcing air into it, 

 for most of it escapes at once as the numerous bubbles that 



