236 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



the fish in their sinuous voyages, for the more a fish travels the fatter 

 and bigger he becomes. The pond should present the features of a 

 river or lake. The pond will be found to contain 



" Retain 1,000 of those that are 2 feet long for replenishment ; send all 

 the rest to market. In another year the number will exceed all calcula- 

 tion, and they require no feeding ; hence the value of carp-culture." 



It is the practice in some places to feed them with grass, straw, rice, 

 wheat bran, &c, according to the nature of the fish. Ponds are less 

 elaborately constructed by moderns, but to a certain extent the ancient 

 model is conformed .to. The narrative will appear less overdrawn when 

 the nature of the soil to which the writer refers is considered ; for the 

 lakelets and pools of reclaimed deltas, containing perhaps the most 

 fertile alluvium in the world, its land and water teeming with animal 

 and vegetable life, afford profuse supplies for the sustenance of fishes. 



Although the author says the carp maintain themselves, there is con- 

 siderable attention paid in many places to supplying them with grass, 

 straw, aquatic plants, and rice or wheat bran. 



A modern author recommends three contiguous ponds in a fertile soil ; 

 a small one, about 10 feet square, 7 or 8 feet deep, with a pool half that 

 size, aud 2 feet lower, the bottom of which is to be well pounded ; a 

 middle size, 20 to 30 feet square, at least something over 5 feet deep; 

 and a large one, two, three, or more hundred feet, according to the ex- 

 tent of culture desired. The larger ponds should be at their northern 

 ends a foot deeper, to afford a cool gathering place for their inmates ; 

 and into that portion the food should be cast. 



In April, stock the small pond with 600 bream and 200 tench an inch 

 long, feed them at regular intervals twice a day with grass, or, in de- 

 fault of grass, shells of eggs that have been preserved in salt, which 

 should be kept in store for that purpose. In June arrange for the 

 transfer of the fish to the middle-sized pond, by spreading out a sheet 

 supported by poles; scoop out the fish with a cloth net, place them on the 

 sheet, and make a separation, the bream aud tench by themselves (all 

 other fishes being sent to market), to be placed in the middle-sized pond, 

 which is to be prepared in the spring, by removing its occupants to the 

 large pond, draining and planting it with an aquatic vegetable (Seman- 

 Uicmum f) when the bottom is half dried. By April this plant will have 

 attained its growth and afford nourishment for the fish. In February 

 or March following transfer them to the large pond, when they will be 



