220 WHOLESALE BREEDING 



They wish to avoid claims even more than the shipper cares to make 

 them. 



Fish are better prepared for shipping by being kept for about two 

 weeks in cool water. Hard spring water is excellent for the purpose. 

 As before noted this seems to toughen the fish considerably. Care must 

 be taken in moving fish from warm rearing ponds to spring reservoirs 

 not to make the temperature change too suddenly. Floating the warm 

 containers in the cool water until temperature is nearly equalized before 

 emptying the fish is a good method. 



The Plant. Experience has abundantly proven that goldfish 

 should be hatched and kept for the first few weeks in concrete tanks 

 where they can be watched, well fed and protected from most enemies. 

 It is equally certain that as soon as they are large enough to handle, say 

 about half an inch, they should be transferred to mud-bottom ponds, 

 where they grow much faster. This applies especially to commons. 

 Fancy varieties are usually reared in cement pools, where they can be 

 more carefully watched, and also removed with less risk of injury. Gold- 

 fish stir up the mud in the water and make the visibility bad, but on 

 the whole this is an advantage, for it partially hides them from enemies 

 and protects them from the full glare of all-day sun. 



The size and style of concrete tanks varies with individual ideas. 

 Personally we prefer them raised. It makes observation better and work 

 easier. Six by twelve feet is a workable size for hatching-tanks and in 

 the latter part of the season they are useful for storing graded fish as 

 they are harvested from the mud-bottom ponds. Figure 207a shows such 

 tanks, while figure 208c, from another farm, shows them at ground level 

 and a size about twelve by twenty feet. Each is adapted to its own 

 breeding methods, which will be described later. 



Mud-bottom ponds also vary in size. A fair average would be about 

 one-third acre. They are from two to three feet deep and are sloped to a 

 point (usually in one corner) to which the fish will be drawn for catch- 

 ing when the water is removed. Where spring water is not available for 

 Winter 1 storage of fish, a few ponds are dug extra deep so that ice will 

 not form to the bottom. Fancy brood stock, however, should be kept 

 indoors over winter in liberal sized tanks, at a temperature of about 60 

 degrees. 



The edges of mud-bottom ponds should be concrete reinforced with 

 poultry netting. This retains the banks and keeps back vegetation. 

 Plants harbor small but vicious fish enemies. This reminds us to state 

 that it is not well to attempt to grow aquatic plants in goldfish ponds. 

 They are difficult to hold in check, interfere with catching the fish, and 



