No. 5 (1917) CARP-GROWING IN GERMANY 1 53 



agree that the droppings of cattle are among the best foods for carp, 

 not in general directly but because they promote small life abund- 

 antly, both animal and vegetable, and on these the carp feed. On 

 testing such ponds with a dipper it was found that the water, 

 especially at the margin and near the inlet from the farm-stead, was 

 fairly alive with " water fleas " and various animalculae, while the 

 water of unmanured ponds was far less prolific. 



Taking this and other farms together, the general practice is 

 that in April and May a few reproductors, usually one female to 2, 

 3 or 4 males, are placed in special small breeding ponds in which 

 branches, especially those of juniper, or other simple arrangements 

 for the attachment of the adhesive eggs, are placed. These can 

 either be removed at once with the adherent eggs or allowed to 

 remain till the eggs hatch. The arrangement is similar to that in 

 Japan as described in a note on Japanese Fisheries. If the pond 

 owner has no spawners he can either buy them for spawning in 

 his pond, or he can buy the ova, or fry ready hatched. There is a 

 regular trade with carefully designed casks or vessels for the trans- 

 port of spawners, ova, or fry. When the fry are about a fortnight 

 old the breeding ponds are slowly drained, fine meshed baskets or 

 nets in which the fry are caught being placed at the outlet ; these 

 are then transferred to the main ponds. In more .scientific arrange- 

 ments small rectangular ponds have nicely figured beds sloping to 

 a central ditch from which it is easy to net out the small fry so 

 that they are not crushed in the basket by the rush of the water. 

 The removal of the fry is necessary in order both to prevent the 

 parent carp from devouring them and to give them room and food 

 to develop. By November they have reached the fingerling stage, 

 weighing one or two ounces and are then retained in deep wintering 

 ponds. At the end of the next summer, they may be I lb. or more 

 and at the eml of the third summer, 2^^ to 3 lb. They are usually 

 sold at this age as the larger and older ones are coarse ; spawners 

 (females) are kept up to 10 years, but are then worth less than half- 

 price as food. A little cereal food such as maize, boiled or raw, is 

 sometimes given if available, or any house refuse, etc., carp being 

 omnivorous; lupin seed or cake is a favourite food of carp and is 

 not only cheap but contains about one-third of albuminoids. But 

 in the Bavarian ponds food is not in general given to any great 

 extent, the owners relying chiefly on the natural or acquired 

 resources of the ponds. It will be observed that the main ponds 

 contain, in each year, a number of first, second, and third year fish 



