Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1875-01-09
NUMBER 16.
AGRICULTURAL.

How To SroCS poSDS WiTn BLAci:
DAss.-Great progress has been made in tho
last five years in the distribution of the black
bass, especially in New York and in the N:w
Euglard States Two hundred or more ponds
and lakes have been stocked, and yet We arc
continually receiving letters Of inquiry, which
show that people have very imperfect infor-
nation in regard to the habits Of the fish, and
the best method Of introducing them. Some
inquire for the spawn, surprising that they
are propagated like the salmonide. Bat all
attempts to take spwan from this fish have
been failures, so far us we are informed
Some ponds have been stocked with this fry,
bat it remains to be seen whether this will
prove Successful. The fry are very small,
and remain bat II few days over the beds
where they are hatched, so that it requires
very close watching to capture them. They
are removed just ut the time when they are
said to have the protection of the parent fish,
and they are all liable to perish in new water
among other species of fish. Tho common
and the most reliable method of Introducing
the baS, is to transport adult fish from WELL
stocked ponds to new localities. This, whcu
properly done, has never been known to fail.
In most of the States there is legal protection
to the fish for three years, generally granted
by special act Of the Legislature. But this j.
not long enough to secure the object. It
should he in all cases five years. The fish do
not bite freely until after the spawning Is
over in May and June, and they do not usu
ally reach their new home until July or later,
50 that there is no fry from them until the,
second year. The fiS! generally selected for
transfer are from one to three years old,
measuring from to l2 inches in length
Fish of this size are not only more numerous
but they bear transportation better, and are
more readily acclimated than when larger.
They arc moved with Il good deal Of difficulty
in hot weather, especially when the journey
requires more than twelve or Fifteen hours
With the most skillful management there will
be Il considerable loss. In the Fall months
there Is much less loss.
There is great want of Information in re-
gard to the character of the water suitable to-
this fish. The bass wants clear lively wuter
with rocky or gravelly bottom, and the moro
Of it the better, 1t wants room for itself and
for the poorer kinds of fish, upon which it
feeds yoraciously. Ii does well in the mill
ponds upon manufacturing streams, and if the
head waters and reservoirs are stocked, they
will in few years he found in all the waters
Ill, a ;,.b Il.
of twenty acres or more. Some decline to-
stock these ponds or lake, because they are,
generally free to the public. But this is
-hort-sighted policy. A large pond Or a lake
stocked at Il cost Of 800 or 5000, and pro-
tcctcd by law for five years, will furnish bet
ter sport to the gentlemen or company who
undertake the enterprise than they could find
in any small pond Of their own. In suitable
water black baSs multiply very f,lst, and, af
ter they once gain possession, their numbers
can never be very seriously reduced by hook
fishing. The annual spawning will more
than keep up the supply. There are thous-
andS Of ponds and lakes in the Northern and
Middle States of from 100 to 1000 acres, pro-
lucing only the poorer kinds of fish, that
might easily be stocked with bass, and add
largely to the food sapply Of the people 1t
only needs the effort of Il few individual in
any township to accomplish this good work.
When the funds are raised, there is little
difficulty in procuring the fish. Fish culture
has made Such progress in the Eastern States,
that an order for trout or bass is about ass
readily filled as an order for Jerseys or Cots
wolds.