PROPAGATIOX OF FISH. 241 
thousands by a yearling happening accidentally to get 
among the fry jnst hatched. 
The ponds from which my experience is mostly drawn 
I have no j^art nor parcel in, further than what may be 
claimed from having furnished extensive advice ; but I 
have taken a deep interest in their success, and if I sj^eak 
of them as my ponds and my experiments, the party that 
really made them will understand and excuse me, and 
the public will comprehend that no egotism is intended. 
They are five, and will soon be more, built of gravelly 
sand along a bank that is filled with pure, clear springs, 
and about five feet deep. In the first place, the musk- 
rats are annoying, having in one instance tunnelled a 
dam and let out over a hundred breeders, and when the 
expense is not an object, it is well to put a fence of 
boards or even stone-work in the middle of the dam. 
These ponds all communicate w^ith one another at the 
surface of the w^ater by a sluiceway that can be closed 
atj^leasure, and each can be drawn off dry separately. 
In that which might be called the highest, and communi- 
cates directly with the principal springs, are placed a 
row of boxes about twelve feet square and one foot deep, 
divided into compartments by divisions of wood, with 
openings cut to let the water circulate. The boxes are 
kept on a level by being supported on stout pegs driven 
into the sand, and are filled about half full of pure white 
gravel, leaving the water about four inches deep. There 
is an open passageway to the outside and through the 
partitions, w^hereby the fish can enter, and doors, com- 
posed mainly of ware, keep ofi* leaves and twigs that 
would foul the water, but can be lifted at pleasure. 
Jl 
