[19] ARTIFICIAL FEEDING OF CARP. 1027 



purpose of deriving the full benefit from the sale-ponds, to stock the 

 growino-ponds in proportion to the capacity of the latter; which, of 

 course, would give them an extra number of fish, and then to raise this 

 extra number offish to the required weight by artificial feeding. 



By not employing artificial food in the above-mentioned cases, the 

 given i)ond area would not yield its fullest possible produce, which, of 

 course, could not be considered a rational method of pisciculture. The 

 cause of it is this, that lor certain given conditions there is only one 

 final weight which can be considered the most rational, and wiiich will 

 yield the greatest possible revenue ; it is that weight which will insure, 

 every autumn, the most quick and profitable sale of the carp. 



VI. To change the weight of carp of a former period as quick as pos- 

 sible to the normal weight of carp in the succeeding period, thereby 

 shortening the period of transition. 



The transition from one period to the other always requires several 

 years till it is fully accomplished. During these years the yield of the 

 fisheries will be either greater or smaller than in former years. If 

 greater, this result will be brought about by the circumstance that, com- 

 pared with former years, larger and heavier fish get into the sale-ponds. 

 The catching of a larger number of fish does not, therefore, increase the 

 revenue, as it is caused by the stock from preceding years ; if smaller, 

 the cause of , this must be found in the circumstance that in some years 

 the final weight is not reached, and the fish, therefore, cannot be sold 

 till the following year. 



These irregularities are rather annoying, and the transition, if it is to 

 be accomplished without any disturbance or delay, requires great at- 

 tention. It is, therefore, to the interest of the pisciculturist to shorten 

 the period of transition as much as possible, and this can only be done 

 by artificial feeding. It is better, however, not to feed than to feed in 

 the wrong place, as will appear from the following. 



To shorten the transition from one period to another — as a general 

 rule, from a longer to a shorter one — it is above everything else neces- 

 sary to do away, as soon as possible, with the differences of weight of 

 the fish, which they have reached in the years of growth of the former 

 period, and gradually to cause them to reach those weights which are 

 aimed at in the new period. 



If pisciculture has been carried on systematically during the preced- 

 ing years, it will be easy to ascertain which fish have to be fed artifi- 

 cially for this purpose. But, if this has not been the case, the first 

 thing to be done is to arrange the stock on hand according to weight, 

 to ascertain the number of fish of each weight, and put these data down, 

 so as to get the necessary facts in the case. 



For such a transition, however, neither the young fry, nor a portion of 

 the same, should be fed artificially, but the required weight can, and 

 must, at once be reached by a proportionate stocking of the ponds. 



Unless one puts down these data in some sort of tabulated form, one 



