368 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
pouring. Sometimes if a barrel chanced to be overlooked a little too long and the fish 
were particularly uncomfortable, it would take from 8 to 12 bucketfuls dipped out and 
poured back as rapidly and violently as possible to make them easy again. I found 
that this performance had to be repeated with each barrel once every 30 minutes to be 
safe, showing that these large fish especially consume the air out of the water very 
rapidly. 
After an all night run of fifteen hours in the car, the nearest station to Bear Lake 
was reached, and here eight wagons were waiting to take the cargo to the lake, the 
nearest point being about 12 miles south of the railway. The barrels containing the 
fish were soon transferred to the wagons and the lake was reached about noon, and 
some of the fish planted at the first favorable place and opportunity. Three fourths 
of the lot, however, was taken to the extreme southern end of the lake and planted 
there at 9 o’clock p. m., after a 40-mile wagon-haul and thirty hours in the barrels. 
The only change of water was during the first four hours of the trip, at Salt Lake City 
and Ogden, where less than half the water was taken out and replaced with a fresh 
supply. The lack of fresh water, therefore, had to be compensated by the vigorous 
application of the water-buckets to supply sufficient aeration. An observation made 
during the long wagon-haul should not be omitted. Wagons with springs and some 
without springs were used, and I noticed that the fish in the wagons without springs 
seemed to be in a better condition than those in the spring wagons; and in going over 
rough places in the road the water showed less tendency to slop over and spill out. 
After getting the last of this consignment of bass into the waters of Bear Lake 
with a loss of not to exceed 7 per cent in transit, and all in good lively condition, I 
felt very greatly relieved, for I expected to lose a much larger percentage. The ship 
meuts to the southern part of the State in the cool months of autumn were made with 
less than 1 per cent loss, thus showing that the cool weather in the fall of the year is 
the best time to transplant and distribute this fish in Utah. From the high parental 
instinct and other good qualities of this great fish, I am strongly of the opinion that 
it is the coming fish for pond cultivation in this State. 
I wish to express the highest appreciation of the conduct of our local railroads, 
the Oregon Short Line and the Bio Grande Western railways, in furnishing cars and 
free transportation for this State distribution of the black bass, and also to acknowl- 
edge the important service rendered by the United States Commission of Fish and 
Fisheries at Washington in first introducing the large mouthed black bass in Utah. 
Salt Lake City, Utah. 
