668 EEPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



such a case it will be advisable to abandon carp-cnltnre and confine 

 one's self to the keeping of caqi. We meet with similar cases in agri- 

 culture. Many farmers, e. g., wiU be prevented from raising lambs by 

 local causes, while the keeping of a flock of sheep may be profitable. 

 If a farmer, therefore, has no wintering-pond, but several small sheets of 

 water which have water all during the summer, he will do best in stock- 

 ing his ponds (no matter what their size may be) with three-year-old 

 carp and a few pikes, at the rate of about 100 to 300 pounds of carp, 

 (no individual fish to weigh less than one-half pound,) to the acre. The 

 growth and health of the fish depends on the character of the bottom 

 and of the water ; and in this respect carp greatly resemble the prod- 

 ucts of the soil. 



Any pond, no matter whether large or small, which is a few feet deep 

 and whose water does not contain too much iron, will in autumn yield a 

 rich crop of carx) from those which have been placed in it in spring. 

 But where the circumstances are more favorable, and where wintering- 

 ponds permit the raising of carp one, two, and three years old, carp- 

 culture may be carried on successfully. The first pond required is the 

 hatching-pond, " Streichteichy It should not be too large, from one- 

 quarter to two acres, and in it should be placed two or three spawners 

 and one or two milters, to which should be added a one-year-old milter 

 weighing at least one-half j^ound. The water should be two to four 

 feet deep in the middle of the pond, and the northern and eastern banks 

 should be wide, shallow, and well protected, exposed to the warm rays 

 of the sun ; it wiU be well to have some reeds and grasses grow in the 

 pond. In our province (Prussia) the carj) generally spawn for the first 

 time at the end of May. In warm weather they spawn a second, third, 

 and fourth time at short intervals ; and it may be observed, every time, 

 that the older fry make room for the younger in the warm and shallow 

 water, and go into deeper water, until they are again driven into deeper 

 waters by the succeeding fry. 



Small hatching-ponds are preferable to large ones for, 1st, a small 

 pond will generally be more sheltered; 2d, in large ponds the wind cre- 

 ates larger waves, which frequently cast the spawn on the shore, where 

 it dries ui) when the water recedes ', 3d, smaU sheets of water can be 

 better protected from overflowing in violent rain-storms ; 4th, large ponds 

 will offer greater attractions to the numerous enemies of the carp, e. g.^ 

 the eagles, the herons, ducks, crows, «&c., not to mention the otter, which 

 is a well-known robber of fish-ponds. 



The larger the sheet of water the more difficult will it be to protect 

 the fish against the ravages of birds. The herons are particularly fond 

 of the young fry of the carp, but a careful huntsman will soon be able 

 to keep them, as well as the ducks, away by shooting a number. The 

 eagles and the crows should be caught in traps ; but the most danger- 

 ous enemy of the carp is the small diver, Fodiceps minor ^ all the more so 

 as it is quite difficult to get a shot at him, especially in ponds where 



