24 AQU ARIUM MANAGEMENT 



If it is not convenient to purchase in autumn, make it a rule not to 

 get fishes over one year old. Buying spawn in the spring is an interest- 

 ing way to start. 



Unless desirous of making a flashy show in an aquarium at once, 

 it is very bad policy to purchase fully developed fishes with long fins. 

 These have usually reached their zenith and are ready to "go back." 

 The change of aquarium is enough to start them on the down grade. 

 Good young stock will develop the fins later and will be more likely to 

 "stay with you." None except advanced fanciers who know what they 

 are about should purchase the older stock and they seldom do. 



Try to avoid purchasing goldfish which have been forced in growth 

 in running water. Most of them decline or die in their second year. 



A Word for the Pet Store Man. The author was one of those boys 

 with a passion for going into pet shops. One of the questions which often 

 occurred to him was, "Why are pet store keepers so disagreeable?" 

 Having since appreciated what they must contend with, the answer is no 

 longer a mystery. Besides their difficulty in securing healthy stock, 

 feeding it a long time, experiencing many losses, they have to contend 

 with two very irritating classes of persons. One of these is the time- 

 consuming curiosity-seeker who pretends to be a prospective customer 

 but who has no intention of purchasing. The other is the "bum sport" 

 who blames all his troubles and losses on the dealer, and who wants to 

 exchange dead pets for live ones. Stock in a pet store is necessarily 

 crowded, therefore difficult to keep in good condition. The dealer does 

 the best he can in delivering apparently healthy pets. The customer's 

 eyes should be his market. After the deal is completed there should be 

 no more ground for complaint than if a lady bought a piece of goods 

 in a store, took it home, cut it wrong and then came back for an exchange. 

 Wrong treatment of pets at home can be quite as fatal as the pair of wild 

 scissors. Let us regard the pet store man "more in sorrow than in anger." 



THE ANSWER 



And now we close the chapter, as promised, with the reply to the 

 good lady whose letter was quoted at the outset : 



Dear Madam : 



Undoubtedly your fishes are trying to speak 

 to you. Anyone with a slight knowledge of fish 

 language would be able to tell what they are say- 

 ing. It is n 'Mistress, have mercy on us; we are 

 suffocating." 



