682 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



prevent the fully-matured fish, particularly the carp, from spawning. 

 In lakes where one wishes to produce a great quantity of young fish, it 

 will, therefore, be advantageous to have no fish of prey ; but where one 

 intends to produce large and heavy fish by preventing the water from 

 one lake to enter another, the presence of fish of prey offers the double 

 advantage, that they make use of the small and worthless fish, and that 

 they further the growth of the other fish by diminishing the number. 



Among the fish living on plants, the carp is the most valuable, on 

 account of its rapid growth and its great value for the table. It has, 

 moreover, the following qualities, which are very desirable for the pisci- 

 culturist : it is very easy to produce a very great quantity of young- 

 carps ; the carp is a very hardy fish, and has but few wants ; and, finally, 

 there is scarcely a fish with whose conditions and mode of living we are 

 so well acquainted, as it has been raised for centuries and has almost 

 become a domestic animal. 



The carp flourishes so well in our stagnating and slow-flowing waters 

 that, more than any other fish, it is suited to make our fisheries pro- 

 ductive in a very short time. 



For producing great quantities of young carps, shallow ponds are 

 required, which contain no fish of prey, and can be drained entirely. It 

 will be well to protect the young fish from fish of prey for one year, and 

 place fish two years old into the open waters. They are at that age so 

 large that fish of prey cannot hurt them much. If there are no ponds 

 where the young fish can be placed, thus making it necessary to let the 

 young fish free at an age of one year, this should, if it is in any way 

 possible, be done in spring. During winter, the carp is in a state of 

 torpor, and is so lazy that it becomes an easy prey to the pike, which is 

 particularly voracious at that season. In spring, on the other hand, the 

 carp is lively, while the pike, on account of his spawning, has become 

 languid and sickly. 



Unless the country is perfectly level, there is nearly everywhere a 

 chance to make ponds for the young fish (" Streichteiche 7, )j as nearly 

 every flowing water is suitable for filling such ponds, and as in case of 

 necessity even rain and snow will supply the required quantity of water. 



We will now, in accordance with the experiments made on the estate 

 of Cottbus-Peitz, in Lusatia, calculate what sized sheets of water can be 

 stocked in one year from a pond of a given size. The areas of the differ- 

 ent ponds at Peitz are as follows : 



For fish of the first year, (spawning and young fish), 1 Morgen*. 



For fish of the second year, (growing fish), 2 Morgen. 



For fish of the third year, 3.4 Morgen. 



For fish of the fourth year, (when the fish reach their full size), 12 

 Morgen. 



If one wishes to raise two-year-old fish for the market, 15.4 Morgen 

 water-area would be required for the next two years for every 3 ilior- 



*One Morgen =0.f>8 Q 8 of an acre. 



