This is among the finest sporting as well as food fish in America. It abounds in the clear waters of the Western and Northern lakes; bites fiercely at fly or trowlling spoon, makes a vigorous fight for life, liberty and happiness, showing a perfect willingness "to fight it out on that line if it takes all summer," and at last when subdued and brought to the table does honor to the cook who prepares it, and pleasure to the palate that enjoys it. It is unknown in European countries, and exists solely with us, where its vigor, enterprise, restlessness, and independence, its athletic but not altogether comely appearance make it rather representative in its character. It is self-reliant, and when placed in new waters not merely makes itself at home, but appropriates the locality, explores its furthest recesses and devours its aboriginal inhabitants. It natural distribution was through a few of the lakes of New York, but mainly in the North-western States. It has, however, been acclimated in many other ponds and lakes where it now flourishes extensively. The black bass loves bright, pure, lively water, not as cold as the trout streams of our spring-producing hills and mountains, but free from foul matters held suspended in it, and with motion either of current or from the winds. It deposits its eggs on rocky or pebbly ledges. The parents guard and protect their nests till the young are hatched, and even watch over the latter till they can take care of themselves. Alter-nately the male and female stands guard over their precious possession of infantile possibilities; if one is away scouring the country for food, the other is on the watch, fierce, brave, resolute, and woe to the unhappy intruder who would steal a dinner from the deposit of bass eggs. The bass is the tyrant of the fresh waters; even the big-jawed, snake-like pickerel cannot stand against him. His teeth are long and sharp, his mouth is large and threatening, his body is close knit and stout, and his fins are arrowed at every point with sharp and poisonous spines. Such a creature mounting guard over his young is not an enemy to be despised. The young need a mother's care for some days after they are hatched. They have scarcely any sac and need food. They cluster around the mother, and she takes them where the food is and teaches them how to get it, until they learn how to provide for themselves - just as an old bird teaches her young, after leaving the nest, how to get their own food - then she leaves them to take care of themselves. It would be just as impossible for a young fish, belonging to the black bass family, to take care of itself just after it was hatched, as it would be for a bird just hatched to take care of itself.

Black bass is one of the most prolific varieties of our fresh water fish. Their natural increase is so great and their growth so rapid that it never has been an object to fish culturists to attempt their artificial propagation. When the spawning season draws near, they select, guided by natural instinct, with great care for the purpose of propagation certain portions of the river having a pebbly or gravelly bottom. From these they remove carefully all sediment, weeds and sticks. This work completed leaves a clear bright space in the bottom of the river, circular in form, and having a diameter of about three feet. These beds are readily distinguished by the casual observer from the ordinary bottom of the river by their brightness, the gravel having the appearance of being washed or scoured. When the parent fish are ready to spawn the female goes upon this prepared bed and deposits her spawn in a glutinous band or ribbon running in various directions across the bed. She is followed by the male who impregnates the eggs by the expression of his milt.

Their care of the young, (the exercise of which is peculiar to the bass, sunfish and catfish) taken in connection with the tact that a large pair of bass will deposit 20,000 eggs, will give some idea of their fertility. Possibly the fish are capable of reproduction when two years old, having at that time attained the extraordinary length of eight or nine inches, but this is mere conjecture, based more particularly upon our knowledge of the size and weight of the fish at that age. They frequently attain the weight of five and six pounds; in rare instances seven and eight. They are unsurpassed in flavor by any of the perch family.

Some ponds have been stocked with the fry, but it remains to be seen whether this will prove successful.

The fry are very small, and remain but a few days over the beds where they are hatched, so that it requires very close watching to capture them. They are removed just at the time when they are accustomed to have the protection of the parent fish and they are all liable to perish in new water among other species of fish. The common and the most reliable method of introducing the bass is to transport adult fish from well-stocked ponds to new localities. This, when properly done and the water is suitable, has never been known to fail. The fish do not bite freely until after the spawning is over in June, and they do not usually reach their new home until July or later, so that there is no fry from them until the second year. The fish generally selected for transfer are from one to three years old, measuring from three to twelve 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 are moved with a great deal of difficulty in hot weather, especially when the journey requires more than twelve or fifteen hours ; but with care and skill no serious loss need take place. It has been our practice to distribute these varieties during the spring because we had facilities for obtaining full grown fish at that season, but in most localities it would probably be necessary to transport them in summer.

From our present knowledge we cannot recommend hatching black bass by artificial methods, although the eggs if kept in motion at first, can afterwards be developed in the shad hatching boxes or in Holton's boxes. They take five to ten days to hatch. The fish begin spawning in May and complete the operation in June and remain with their young for about fifteen days thereafter.