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THE GAME BREEDER 



sufficient importance to warrant exten- 

 sive fish cultural operations, but the 

 longer I have been engaged in this work 

 the more important it has appeared to me 

 from purely economic viewpoints. In 

 fact, as a servant of both state and fed- 

 eral governments,, without personally 

 sacrificing the aesthetic side, I have been 

 forced to see and preach the economic 

 side. This economic side applies just as 

 truly to game fishes as to the so-called 

 commercial fishes. If the busy man can 

 enjoy the sport and recreative benefits 

 of angling for game fishes near home, 

 he can indulge his taste more frequently 

 and avoid the fatigue of a long journey 

 to some distant camp with attendant 

 loss of time in travel and usual expense 

 of such a trip. 



One does not have to travel far from 

 home to find waters suitable for such 

 game fishes as trout or black bass and 

 in the wilds of nature. Most country 

 estates have sufficient water supply to 

 feed an artificial pond and with few ex- 

 ceptions such water is suitable for either 

 trout or bass, or possibly landlocked 

 salmon. -, 



In most instances the land which may 

 be most economically flowed is not par- 

 ticularly valuable or productive. When 

 there is no water flowing through one's 

 property it often happens that an adja- 

 cent stream may be tapped or at com- 

 paratively small expense diverted with 

 an intake so arranged that the maximum 

 desired volume of water may be ob- 

 tained in time of drought and regulated 

 in times of freshet. It may be conveyed 

 in an open ditch made to resemble a 

 natural brook or if the topographic con- 

 ditions prohibit this method, it may be 

 piped a whole or a part of the way. 



If a natural stream is available 

 which is not subject to severe freshets, 

 one which has comparatively little vari- 

 ation- in flow, it may be meandered so as 

 to produce on a given area double or 

 treble the area of the original brook. The 

 contour of the land will govern as to the 

 amount of development of this sort. At 

 small expense a series of pools may be 

 constructed to resemble the natural pools 

 on a forest stream. By natural pools I 

 refer to those that are usually formed 



by a fallen tree or a collection of debris 

 or possibly by a few picturesque moss- 

 clad boulders. 



With the waters provided, the all im- 

 portant question to be decided is as to 

 the kind of fish which will best thrive in 

 them and produce the most food or 

 game fish and preferably both in one or 

 more species. 



In the selection of a species best suit- 

 ed to the waters, maximum water tem- 

 perature in summer" and natural food 

 supply are the two most important fac- 

 tors to be considered. Water tempera- 

 ture has first consideration because it is 

 not practical to regulate the temperature 

 to any great extent. In the planning of 

 trout pools the area to which a trout 

 stream may be safely extended either by 

 meandering or in ponds is limited by the 

 volume of water supply, as it may be 

 effected by evaporation,, etc. 



Some waters contain more natural 

 food. than others of the same tempera- 

 ture and the higher the temperature the 

 -more rapid is the growth of aquatic life 

 upon which fish feed as well as of the 

 fish inhabiting such waters. The maxi- 

 mum temperature at times of minimum 

 water supply determines whether the 

 waters are suitable for trout or other 

 salmonidae. 



The natural conditions may often be 

 improved by the introduction of a judi- 

 cious selection of water plants on which 

 various forms of minute aquatic animals 

 live and breed, and these in turn furnish 

 fish food. Suitable plants also afford 

 refuge for the small fisehs against the 

 big ones. 



I confess that I am an enthusiast on 

 the cultivation of waters .for the produc- 

 tion of suitable food and game fishes. 

 At the same time I do not advise anyone 

 to incur much expense in" the develop- 

 ment of fisheries along the lines here 

 suggested until a thorough investigation 

 has been made. The proportion of dis- 

 appointments and failures in the promo- 

 tion of fish cultural enterprises is per- 

 haps larger than in many lines of busi- 

 ness, involving no more capital. 



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