The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-01-11

Not only open minded professional
pisciculturists but ordinary folks who
Cor one reason or another are interested
In the habits of fish will find matter OF
enjoyment and profit In Fish Culture
in Ponds aud Other Inland Waters, by
: WILLIAM T.. MEEHAN, superintendent OF
the Philadelphia public aquarium and
formerly Fish Commissioner OF Penn
sylvania tSturgis and Walton). Con-
struction and use Of ponds. hatcheries
and aQuariums caro- OF eggs and fry,
frog raising and the handling OF gold
fish are the subjects Of clear. inform
ing text and an excellent collection Of
Photographic illustrations.
Control rather than volume OF sup
ply is named rs the prime requisite
for successful maintenance Of a pond
for black bass. For this reason II is
considered better to divert q portion Of
the flow Of n stream into an artificial
, basin than to dam the stream. There
Is choke Of waters: best Of all !s
that drawn direct from n lake. because
Il .s better aeratci and better supplied
with the minute organisms on which
the fry and the young fish feed. Next
best IS water from a stream that Is
the outlet of q lake. stream water"
IS at its best when not too frequently
spring fed.
For tho feeding OF 100000 young fish
an acre Is needed. At largo the small!
| mouthcd bass locates its nest over II
| sravclly or rocky bottom. but the fish
'"groweI" prefers u watertight clay
bottom--nevcr n mucky one-because
| II gives him more certain control OF his
stock" swamp land viii do. because
10 a., fg..1,, g.,
have n bottom Of clay or heavy loan
inpervious to seepage. Better than q
sloping bottom. in the opinion Of this
expert. Is n spawning shelf over which
the water is OF approximately even
depth. Brood ponds must contain
aquatic plants. but too generous a
growth clogs the pond and interferes
,, with the work. The problem is to real
| iZe the best workable compromise be-
tween the unhampcrcd habits Of the
| fish In it's natural habitat and the con-
venicnce Of the fish farmer In his su-
perntendence Of the processes for his
own commercial advantage.
Small ponds are best for fry or finger
lings because So accommodated they
can be handled much more easily than
| IS possible In large basins Twenty five
hundred square feet for 10000 fish up
| TO month old Is the minimum allow
ance. To give tho Infants needed
warmth of water. never over Sc degrees
the depth should be not less than one
nor more than two feet.
Chopped lungs and liver are the cor
rect diet for mature bass. Mr.. Meehan
does not indorse the view held by some
that the stuff should be cut In finger
length pieces which will look like
worms or little fishes, wigglins US they
sink; the bass will learn to take 1t.
though it may need five or sin weeks to
educate them to the strange regime. 4
hundred bass will dispose Of 500 min-
nows at a feeding, but II m!nnows are
used at all two "a day will be enough for
each bass. No amount Of food will con-
quer the basss instinct Of cannibalism.
The author tells Of 10000 iingerllngs
placed in u pond In July to be kept
there until October. They were fed six
times day and consumed daily about
three times their own weight OF food
but by October the 10000 had dwindled
to II 900. The survivors were in prime
condition!
The spawning and nesting habits Of
the various bass and trout, perch and
picl,erel and hard fighting muscallongc
appeal to the few actual and the in
Vulnerable potential and theoretical
sportsmen. but the chapter heading
Catfish Culture" Is startling. "Catties''
and "sunnies' seem to belong to bare.
footed boyhood. the artless bait of bread
dough and tho hand cut pole" to say
nothing OF those Waltonians OF color
who, In suburban regions, doze on fallen
tree trunks beside still waters Of ques-
tionable chemical composition while
visions OF fried cat" dance through
their Senegambian heads. Every mas
culipe memory carries description far
less formal than the authors Of "the
spiny rays on the pectoral and dorsal
fins" Of tho catfish.
The spotted catfish. We learn, defics
culture" Hitherto. runs the report.
"thc greatest experts in the United
States have been forced to acknowledge
'complete defeat Plain fishermen will
DO less surprised b. the defeat Of the