ON THE CULTIVATION OF 

 FISH-PONDS. 



There are hundreds of acres of lakes and ponds about 

 in this country which might be readily made to grow 

 fish, if the owners of these waters only knew w^hat to 

 do and how to do it. 



To many manor houses, and to almost all the ruins 

 of monasteries of England, fish-ponds were formerly 

 attached — in most instances they might be brought into 

 work again. The obvious use of these ponds was to 

 supply fish to the monks and others durinpf fast days, 

 for it must be recollected that sea fish could seldom, at 

 this period of English history (owing to the slow^ness of 

 conveyance and the ignorance of the preservative 

 qualities of ice), be transported from the coast so as to 

 be in fit state for the table on arrival at inland 

 localities. 



The monks of old knew a great deal about the culti- 

 vation of fish-ponds, and I am informed that this ]3ond 

 cultivation is still carried on to a great extent in 

 Western, Central, and Southern Europe ; in fact, in 

 the very localities where the same conditions of things 

 which formerly jorc vailed in England — viz., fast days 

 and no sea fish — are still to be found. 



There is a special treatise on the cultivation of fish- 

 ponds, written by an Austrian bishop. It is printed in 

 Latin, and with a black letter, and is a very rare book. 



