MARENZELLEE — PISCICULTURAL ESTABLISHMENT, ST. POLTEN. 653 



hours and a half, by stage-coach to reach Freiland from the well-known 

 town of St. Polten ; but soon it will be reached in an easier way by the 

 railroad to Schrambach which is shortly to be opened. The piscicultural 

 establishment is located on the right bank of the Traisen at the foot of 

 the Lilienfeld Alps, on a meadow rich in springs, almost at the point of 

 the angle formed by the confluence of the Traisen and the Unrecht- 

 Traisen. Mr. Fruwirth selected this place because it was hoped that 

 after the ponds had been dug there would be a sufficient quantity of 

 water, and because in case of necessity any quantity of water might by 

 a canal be obtained from the Unrecht-Traisen. The establishment, which 

 our diagram shows in its present condition, has not sprung into exist- 

 ence at one time. The proprietor proceeded in a very rational manner 

 by first making an attempt on a small scale, and only extending his 

 operations when he found his expectations realized. In October, 1873, 

 he dug the the pond #1, because the springs were most numerous in this 

 neighborhood. From this pond the water flowed through four sluices 

 in four canals, which united in the neighborhood of the pond marked Wa. 

 In these canals Mr. Fruwirth placed Jacobi's hatching-boxes, without 

 vessels, but simply with a layer of sand for the eggs, near to the sluices, 

 therefore within the limits of somewhat agitated water. The eggs de- 

 veloped in an excellent manner, and it is said that nearly 500 trout trace 

 their origin to this first experiment. As everything succeeded so well, 

 Mr. Fruwirth during the following year built a hatching-house, and by 

 digging a number of new ponds for the young fry he almost brought his 

 establishment to its present condition. After the five ponds for the 

 young fry had been dug, water began to appear in such quantity as to 

 determine Mr. Fruwirth not to get any outside supply for the present. 

 In the beginning the water which flowed off was led direct into the 

 Traisen. This proceeding, however, had some disadvantages which con- 

 siderably diminished the results of the hatching-period, 1874-75, and 

 compelled Mr. Fruwirth to adopt energetic measures. As the right 

 bank of the Traisen is very flat, the water which should have flowed off 

 occasionally remained stationary, or the Traisen water entered the es- 

 tablishment and threatened it with destruction. Dams were of not much 

 use under the circumstances. During the winter of 1874, the hatching- 

 house was exposed to very serious dangers. It was impossible to drain 

 the pouds in order to empty them of fish. One or more larger trout re- 

 mained in the small water puddles and seriously endangered the life of 

 the small-fry. The only way to obviate the difficulty was to construct 

 a tunnel 108 feet long through the solid rock, through which the water 

 could flow off right by the side of a large weir, thus abolishing all com- 

 munication with the Traisen. From this tunnel the water flows into the 

 river in the shape of a small water- fall. Much damage was also done by 

 having the sluices closed with a fine wire grating, as the tender young 

 fish were pressed against it by tbe force of the current and thus perished. 

 Nothing would remedy this evil but an invention which I shall describe 



