Author: Willis Deryke

Publisher:

Published: 2015-08-05

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 9781332301706

Excerpt from The Food of the Fishes of Winona Lake I have been asked by the Division of Fish and Game of the Department of Conservation, State of Indiana, to write an introduction to Mr. DeRyke's paper on the "Food of Fishes" to show the relation of such work to the production of fish. First of all, I want to emphasize the fact that our streams and lakes are not waste areas. Aside from the great values that they have as places for recreation and their important relation to drainage and water power they are capable of producing crops equal to, if not greater, than those produced on the land. Without discussing this in detail the fact may be pointed out, that in pre-war days the carp ponds of China rented for thirty dollars per acre cash rent. This is an income of 10 percent on a $300 valuation or 6 percent on a $500 valuation. Not much farm land is worth more than that. The crops from our waters are harvested for the most part as sport, which makes us sometimes forget that these crops must be produced. In order to raise any crop of plants or animals economically it is necessary to know many things. This knowledge is more nearly complete for land crops than for water crops, or to put it technically, agriculture is more nearly a science than is aquiculture. In agriculture we know something of soils, the things needed to maintain their fertility, and the kind and amount of seeds that will produce the best results. When stockraising is added, we know something of breeds, the amount and kind of food they require, and their general care. To cite a few specific instances: we know the amount of seed wheat or seed corn required per acre to produce the best results. In general, we expect 100 pounds of pork for each 13 bushels of corn, etc. There is this difference between land and water crops. Land crops can be produced by pure culture methods, that is, when we raise corn nothing else is permitted to grow in that field. The hogs that are to eat the corn do not touch it until it is mature. This is because the crops can be marketed and fed dry. Water crops on the other hand must be grown in mixed culture. For instance, a black bass may feed chiefly on minnows, the minnows feed on small crustacea, worms, and insect larvae, and these feed on still smaller animals, plants, and plant debris. This food chain may be varied and is different for the different fishes. Many fishes are supported by very complex food chains. In order to produce the end product the whole chain must be looked after, and be kept going at its best all of the time. The minnows must have suitable places to breed, there must be an adequate supply of plants, etc. If one part of this food chain becomes reduced everything in the food chain above it is either checked in its growth or reduced in numbers. In order to raise fishes it is necessary that we know, not only what fishes eat but also how much they eat, and the number of pounds of fish a given amount of each of these foods will produce. Not only that but we must know how much of these foods is present in the various waters of the state. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.