87 



such as copepods, larvae, etc., in the fields^ from wliicli, of course, 

 tbey are kept from escaping' by bamboo gratings. Should the water 

 in the fields fail, the ryot digs a small pit in one corner in which the 

 fish can survive till more water comes down. The rearing of the fish 

 in the fields is said to improve the produce of the paddy since the fish 

 destroy many insects injurious to the plant. This is one of the 

 many instances in which, as is more especially shown in the Agricul- 

 tural note, the Japanese allow no waste in space or material ; another 

 is the use of the dead silkworm pupae as fish food. The young fry 

 are given away gratis at this station to the extent of very many 

 thousand : they are sent iu the usual wooden buckets sinng on a 

 hivadi over a man's shoulder ; each pail contains several thousand, 

 and the fish will travel up to 40 miles in this way if the water be 

 occasionally changed ; the sliaking supplies sufficient aeration. I^his 

 station claims to have originated, by its example, several private 

 culture farms, and many persons are continually coming to it for 

 advice as to methods, food, etc.; experiments are being also carried 

 out in improving breeds and introducing new ones such as the Chinese 

 eel, etc. Hence this branch station is useful by way of experiment, 

 advice, example, distribution, and suppl3^ 



On the subject of the growth of carp in paddy-fields Prof. 

 Mitsnkuri says that in a single village the agricultural society (a point 

 worth noting) represents the whole village, utilizes 250 acres of 

 paddy-fields each year for this by-product, and annually breeds 25 

 million fry to be sold and raised in surrounding villages. He men- 

 tions another ease where a vast area is irrigated (as in Egypt) by 

 inundation, and the culture of carp in this area, though in its infancy, 

 realized in 1902 no less than Rs. 72,000. 



184. The eel and the mullet, though grown in the ponds with the 

 carp, are not spawned therein : they are caught with the net in April in 

 any brackish water near at hand and placed in the pond : the eels may 

 then be in the second year, but the mullet are only fry. They are fed 

 with crushed shell- fish, earth-worms, etc., and the eels may, by July, have 

 doubled or trebled in size and be ready for market ; by April following 

 they are all sold off, and the profit is said to be large. The mullet 

 increase from a couple of inches in April to 10 inches in September 

 when they are gradually sold off. 



SUGGESTIONS. 



185. Here the descriptive part of this note may end. It remains 

 to make proposals arising from a consideration of the above account, 

 viz., (1) the preparation for an experimental station ; (2) carp hatch- 

 cries for stocking inland waters other than rivers ; (3) minor items • 

 and (4) the provision of experts for carrying out the above and for 

 founding the future Burean of Fisheries, A separate cpmmunicatioii 



