The Barbel spawns in May and June on stones and gravel, in a sharp stream from one to three or more feet deep; the eggs hatch out in a week or ten days.

The Dace spawns in March or the beginning of April, also in sharp shallow streams.

The Pope or Ruffe, so esteemed as a table fish on the Continent, spawns in March and April, when it seeks the mouths of small streams to deposit its spawn on weeds and rushes.

Note.-It must be remembered that fish spawn earlier in mild open seasons than they do in cold seasons; in fact, a late cold spring will keep the fish back for weeks, or even in some cases for months.

ACCLIMATISATION OF FOREIGN FISHES.

We get such fine sea fish delivered at such a cheap rate, even in our most inland districts, that it is not likely it will ever pay to cultivate coarse fish for the market to any great extent— although the Jews would always take a certain amount. But this work considers fish chiefly from an angler's point of view, and the question is, what foreign coarse fish are worth introducing? There are only two that I should care to see introduced, viz., the pike-perch and the black bass, and they should only be tried in such waters as will not support trout or grayling, or where it is undesirable to keep up a stock of our own coarse fish.

The black bass-thanks chiefly to the great interest taken in it by the Marquis of Exeter-may be said to be acclimatised here already. There are many thousands of them now in the fine sheet of water called White-water, near Burghley House, Stamford, Lord Exeter's country seat. In 1878 and 1879, Mr. Silk, the able pisciculturist to the Marquis, brought over from the United States nearly one thousand young bass; and he informs me that the fish have spawned the last two or three seasons. Mr. Silk has since on two occasions been sent to the States to obtain a further supply of these fish, and they have been distributed among some half-dozen gentle

men who had subscribed towards the expenses of getting them over. Having for some years past strongly advocated the introduction of this fine game and food fish into suitable English waters, I was, in common with others interested in this fish, extremely sorry to see, from the reports in the papers, that Mr. Goode, the United States Commissioner, had warned English anglers against the black bass.' I felt convinced that Mr. Goode did not intend to warn us against the introduction of this fish into any of our waters, but only such as were suitable for Salmonide. Knowing that an expression of opinion on this matter from so high an authority would have very great weight in this country, I wrote to Mr. Goode to ask him if he intended his remarks to apply to the introduction of the fish generally. His reply was exactly what I expected it would be ; and I have very great pleasure in giving it, because it will do far more to remove any prejudice against the introduction of the black bass into suitable English waters than anything I can say. Mr. Goode says :—

Dear Mr. Marston,-I am much annoyed-with myself chiefly, for I ought to have expressed myself more explicitly that my remarks upon the black bass were so misinterpreted. I was speaking solely in reference to planting black bass in salmon streams, and in comment upon Sir James Gibson Maitland's paper upon the culture of Salmonida. The entire drift of my remarks was to the effect that the black bass is a fish with which public fish-culture had nothing to do, being purely an angler's fish, and not one which professional fishermen can take in large quantities for the supply of the public markets. As an angler's fish I believe the black bass to be superior in every respect to any fish you have in Great Britain outside the salmon family, and I believe that its introduction into streams where pike, perch, roach, and bream are now the principal occupants, can do no possible harm, and would probably be a benefit to all anglers. It is also well suited for large ponds and small lakes, where there is an abundant supply of 'coarse fish,' which a school of them will soon convert into fish by no means 'coarse.' If you will kindly refer to my Game Fishes of the United States,' p. 12, you will find that my views as to the value of the black bass in my own country are already on record,

6

and I can see no reason why this fish should not be equally valuable in Great Britain. I quote from my own essay as follows:

...

'Fish culturists have made many efforts to hatch the eggs of the black bass, but have never succeeded. . . . This failure is the less to be regretted since young bass may easily be transported from place to place in barrels of cool water, and when once introduced they soon multiply, if protected, to any desired number The first experiment in their transportation seems to have been that of Mr. S. T. Tisdale, of East Wareham, Massachusetts, who, in 1850, carried twenty-seven Large-mouths from Saratoga Lake, N.Y., to Agawam, Mass. The custom of stocking streams soon became popular, and, through private enterprise and the labour of State commissioners, nearly every available body of water in New England and the United States has been filled with these fish, and in 1877 they were successfully carried to the Pacific coast. This movement has not met with universal approval, for by the ill-advised enthusiasm of some of its advocates a number of trout and bream have been destroyed, and complaints are heard that the fisheries of certain rivers have been injured. The general results, however, have been very beneficial. The black bass will never become the food of the millions, as may be judged from the fact that New York market receives probably less than 60,000 lbs. annually; yet hundreds of waters are now stocked with them in sufficient numbers to afford pleasant sport and considerable quantities of excellent food. "Valued as the brook-trout is for its game qualities," writes Mr. Hallock, "widely distributed as it is, and much extolled in song as it has been, the black bass has a wider range, and being common to both cold and warm waters, and to northern and southern climes, seems destined to become the leading game fish of America, and to take the place of the wild brook-trout, which vanishes like the aborigines before civilisation and settlements."'

I shall be very glad, then, if you will quote this letter as fully as your space will allow, in justice to the black bass and its advocates, as well as to myself.

I am, yours truly,

G. BROWN GOODE,
Commissioner.

As an enthusiastic angler for all kinds of fish, I should be the last to advocate the introduction of a fish which would spoil our sport. The black bass will take any kind of bait

freely, affords superb sport, and thrives best in just those waters which are not suited to trout and salmon, viz., ponds, lakes, and slow, deep streams.

I have taken this fish both with fly and worm, and I am convinced that weight for weight it has as much fight in it as any fish. If you use a fly, it should be a gaudy one, and the best plan is to sink it under water an inch or two, and draw it along.

As regards the pike-perch, I confess I have some doubts, he is rather too voracious; still he cannot be worse than the pike in this respect, and he is certainly a more 'game' fish, and better eating.

The question of acclimatisation of foreign Salmonida is doubtless touched upon in the chapter on that subject, but I am firmly of the opinion that no foreign waters can give us better fish of this kind than our own. The American Salmo fontinalis, or brook-trout, has been introduced freely into this country, but it has proved an utter failure, except when kept in confinement in ponds supplied by streams, and deep cold lakes. It is not a trout at all, but a true char. Placed in our rivers it will not breed, it rarely rises to the fly, and it gradually disappears—in fact, it is in no sense equal to our own Salmo fario, or common trout, than which I do not believe there is a better trout in the world.

R. B. MARSTON.

[In the above verdict it is probable that most fishermen and owners of angling waters will concur; and having thus been introduced by Mr. Marston to the Black Bass as the one foreign species which, under certain conditions, it is highly desirable we should attempt to acclimatise, I am glad to be able to supplement the information by the following notes on the practical cultivation of the fish, which have been most obligingly placed at my disposal for the present volume by the Marquis of Exeter, President of the National Fish Culture Association.-H. C.-P.]

THE REARING OF BLACK BASS

AND OTHER PISCICULTURAL EXPERIMENTS AT BURGHLEY

HOUSE.

I have compiled the following notes on the rearing of Black Bass and my other experiments in pisciculture at Burghley, in compliance with a request made to me by Mr. CholmondeleyPennell, who thought that the experience obtained of practical fish hatching and rearing during the last twenty years might be of interest to fishermen and fishery owners.

Should they be so, I shall be pleased. I would premise, however, that my observations are offered rather as rough notes jotted down from time to time than as a finished or elaborate essay.

Some twelve or fourteen years ago, Frank Buckland, with whom I had been on terms of friendship for many years, came down to pay me a visit at Burghley, and he brought with him about two hundred trout ova in a pickle-bottle. The bottle containing the ova was hung to a tap over a sink in the Andromeda Hall on the west side of the house, and the water was allowed to trickle into it for about a month or five weeks, when the young trout began to hatch out. The water, though very pure, is exceedingly hard and cold, but the young fish appeared to do very fairly well.

This was my first successful effort at pisciculture, previous attempts having all resulted in failures.

Of course many of the fish hatched in the pickle-bottle died, but some were strong enough to resist all evils arising from my ignorance and mismanagement, and grew into healthy yearling