REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XL VII 

 METHODS AND RESULTS. 



REARING SHAD IN PONDS. 



The experiments in rearing shad in confinement date back 4 years. 

 In 1885 and 1886 the fry were placed in ponds containing young carp 

 and a great many perch. The favorable results of these experiments, 

 under most unpromising conditions, encouraged further investigation. 

 As it was possible for shad to find their way into our ponds through 

 the water supply, or by the drainage outlets from the river, I deter- 

 mined, in 1887, to renew the experiments under such conditions that 

 the shad found in the ponds would certainly be accepted as the result 

 of the stocking with fry. To this end I had a pond prepared at our 

 Wytheville station, the same being fed by water drawn from Tate's 

 Run, a small stream passing through the hatchery grounds. In June 

 of that year I sent by messenger from Washington to Wytheville 40,000 

 shad fry, which were placed in the pond and left until the following 

 October, when the pond was drawn, and we obtained, by count and es- 

 timate, 5,000 shad from 3£ to 4 J inches in length, or about 12J per cent, 

 of the number placed in the pond originally. The conditions were by 

 no means favorable, for about 2,000 young carp 4 inches long were 

 taken out with the shad, and the pond swarmed with cyprinoids which 

 came in with the water supply. These fish are active and predaceous, 

 and doubtless destroyed large numbers of the shad. 



The experiment of the present season at Washington was carefully 

 planned to exclude unfavorable conditions. The pond selected con- 

 tained about 6 acres ; it was thoroughly drained, and the bottom lay 

 exposed to the frosts for some time ; quicklime was used in the trenches 

 to kill any eels or perch that might be in the mud ; roots of hardy 

 aquatic plants were planted in patches over the bottom, and then the 

 pond was allowed to fill during the winter from the rains. 



With the opening of the spring the vegetation grew up finely, and 

 patches of green showed at numerous points. About 2,500,000 of fry 

 were placed in the pond, and during the mild summer evenings, when 

 the young shad were schooling at the surface and jumping after the 

 flies, it looked as if a silver rain were falling on the water. Early in 

 November, when the gates were opened to let the shad pass out into the 

 river, it was a sight worth going to see ; they were hours passing out 

 in solid column, and a hand net dipped at random in the outlet conduit 

 would bring up two or three hundred. We can of course only estimate 

 numbers ; every fry placed in the pond seemed to have a representative 

 from 2£ to 3 inches in length. Dr. Hessel, the superintendent, esti- 

 mates the proportion of survivals at over 60 per cent. I am certainly 

 within limits in placing it at 30 per cent. The following account of the 

 preparation of the pond and the feeding habits of the shad is from Dr. 

 HesseFs report. 



In May, 1888, shad fry were liberated in one of the carp ponds and sue- 



