THE GAME BREEDER 



107 



sirable site for a bass cultural estab- 

 lishment is where pond construction 

 may be difficult ; for example, a swamp 

 adjoining a stream, or a lowland beside 

 a river, but such sites must be ex- 

 amined very minutely, for there may 

 be some features which will render 

 them unavailable. Swamp land is 

 worthy of very favorable considera- 

 tion, because while the surface soil is 

 apt to be wet and soggy, the immedi- 

 ate underlying material is likely to be 

 clay or heavy loam, impervious to 

 seepage. On the other hand, swamp 

 land in nearly every instance will be 

 found to have some bad places, as 

 gravel spots and deep soft muck holes. 

 On the size and character of the 

 gravel spots and the extent and depth 

 of the muck holes must rest the avail- 

 ability of the property for the purposes 

 of bass ponds. If a muck hole be of 

 any considerable depth, a pond cannot 

 be built over it. 



In all swamp lands there is nearly 

 always much .underlying material 

 known as hard pan, which renders 

 pond construction slow, hard, expen- 

 sive work, but when once built the 

 ponds give the owner and the work- 

 men the greatest satisfaction and the 

 least trouble. 



As bass, both large and small mouth, 

 naturally inhabit warmer waters than 

 trout, it follows that water for a bass 

 cultural plant in the Northern States 

 must not be directly from a spring, 

 neither may it be of low tempera- 

 ture. River, stream or lake water 

 which, during the spawning season, 

 will not fall below 55 degrees, prefera- 

 bly 60 degrees, and which only be- 

 comes muddy after exceptionally 

 heavy storms, and then for a short 

 time only, is necessary. During the 

 breeding season higher temperatures 

 than those named and water perpetu- 

 ally clean are very much to be de- 

 sired. 



Water having a lower temperature 

 than 55 degrees during the spawning 

 period must be rejected, even though 

 the site be otherwise suitable, because, 

 when the temperature drops below 55 

 degrees bass will stop the construc- 

 tion of nests ; at 50 degrees they will 



not spawn, and at 45 degrees the eggs 

 and fry will die. 



A great volume of water is unneces- 

 sary, although it is desirable, since 

 it insures conditions against any fear 

 of a shortage, even in the severest 

 drought. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances 500 gallons of water a minute 

 will be ample to operate an extensive 

 plant, but whatever the volume, it is 

 of the utmost importance that it be 

 under complete control. A fish cul- 

 turist who cannot regulate his water 

 supply is likely to lose two-thirds of 

 his chances for successful work. There 

 are times when inability to control it 

 means the inevitable loss of every egg 

 and fry in the breeding ponds. In 

 the more northern latitudes it often 

 happens that for many days at a time 

 about the beginning of the spawning 

 period the nights will be cool, and 

 it is necessary either to reduce the 

 water supply or shut it off altogether, 

 so that during the day the sun's rays 

 will elevate the temperature to the 

 very highest possible point, and thus 

 hold it in safe bounds during the hours 

 of darkness. 



Water that becomes roily through 

 storms is not objectionable, provided 

 it is not continued too long or be of 

 too frequent occurrence, especially 

 while the nests contain eggs. For a 

 short time muddy water has no per- 

 ceptible effect on fry, or advanced fry, 

 and is beneficial to mature fish. 



Geo. S. Brown, Norwich, Conn., wrote : 

 "You are doing good work. Keep it up." 



C. T. Wilke. Glastonbury, Conn., wrote: "I 

 wish to declare for the 'good sense movement.' 

 Of late I find myself preaching 'more game* 

 at every opportunity." 



J. M. Hammond, Milltown, Ind., wrote: 

 "Long may you give the good advice how to 

 have plenty of game, as it is right. There 

 will be no more game under present laws, but 

 it will get scarcer every year. The farmer 

 must have the right to sell birds before he 

 will take any interest in them." 



Wallace Evans, Oak Park, III., wrote: 

 "Your scheme of game protection or game 

 increase is with a few exceptions, exactly in 

 accordance with my own ideas." 



Prof. T. Gilbert Pearson. Secretary of the 

 National .^ssociatioi. of .Audubon .Societies, 

 said in an interview that there would be no 

 opposition to our breeders' law. 



