the enormous size to whicli these fish will attain, as in the old monlcish 

 stew ponds, and the number and weight of fish that can be kept in small 

 areas. There is no reason why the practice should not be carried out 

 industrially. 



181. The area of the Fisheries Society's establishment was only 

 about 7 acres with three large and eleven small ponds ; of these the large 

 ponds aggregating nearly 6 acres were the industrial j^onds where fish 

 were grown for market : the others were either experimental or breed- 

 ing ponds or ponds for maintaining the parents (rcproducfeurs). The 

 three ponds produced last year (it is said) above 20,000 lb. of eels, 

 23,000 lb. of carp and a large number of mullet, or above 8,000 lb. of 

 fish per acre. This produce is so heavy tliat there is possibly a mis- 

 take in the figures, though the Atsuta statistics (paragraph 183) are 

 equally high, and Prof. Mitsukuri meutions 405,000 lb. of carp 

 as the produce of 225 acres or 1,800 lb. per acre, to which must be 

 added similar weights of eel and grey mullet which are usually grown 

 simultaneously with carp in the same ponds. Hence the above 

 weights for particular ponds are possible and may be compared with 

 still larger American yields mentioned by Mr. Moreton Frewen 

 (" Nineteenth Century ", September 1899) in small ponds where cheap 

 artificial food was supplied. 



182. A business establishment which was also visited was of great 

 size, apparently above 50 acres, with a number of large as well as small 

 ponds. It seems probable that if Madras ponds were large in size and 

 supplied with the proper class of vegetation, giving shelter to all sorts 

 of small animal life, the cost of feeding might be reduced to a minimum, 

 while the fish would be better, since they would live under more natural 

 conditions. 



183. A district establishment (Atsuta), which is the cultural branch 

 of an Experimental Station, afforded me much instruction and sugges- 

 tion ; the area was somewhat over 9 acres, containing 5 large ponds for 

 market purposes where carp and eels are grown for sale and 17 smaller 

 ones for hatching, breeding experiment, and — which is a special 

 feature of this station — the distribution of fry. Last year above 

 100,000 carp, 25,000 mullet and many thousands of pounds of eels 

 were sold from the market ponds; it is noteworthy that, as this is a 

 silk district, silkworm pupae are an important item of fish food iu this 

 station. The yield is almost incredible, but the fish were probably 

 small; the yield in the Tokyo ponds was similarly large. The distri- 

 bution of fry is gratis and is tor a special purpose ; in Japan it is 

 customary in suitable localities to place young carp when 1 or 2 

 inches long, in the paddy-fields iu June when irrigation begins ; by 

 October, say four clear months, when the paddy is cut these have 

 grown to 8 or 10 inches and are quite marketable ; the rapidity of 

 growth is due to the warmth, excellent feeding on minute crustaceae 



