THE CARP AND ITS CULTURE. 873 



This rapid development takes place only in shallow, thoroughly-warmed 

 ponds, or in such as were expressly constructed for hatching, and called 

 breeding-ponds. If these ponds are deep, and consequently their water 

 is colder, the hatching process may require as many as twenty days. In 

 from three to five days the young fish has absorbed the yolks, and seeks 

 its food. If the breeding pond be productive enough to furnish the 

 necessary food for so many young fishes, these will grow very rapidly. 

 I shall return to this subject hereafter. 



I remarked above ^hat the carp prefers stagnant or slowly-running 

 water with a muddy bottom, and that it lives upon vegetable as well as 

 animal food, aquatic plants, seeds, worms, and larvae of water-insects ; 

 it is therefore no fish of prey. It does not attack other fishes, and has 

 no teeth in its mouth, but only in the throat, and is, on account of its 

 harmlessness, an excellent fish for the culturist, as well as for stocking 

 large lakes and rivers in general. 



3. — The growth and size. 



Its growth differs, according as the fish inhabits cold or warm water, 

 a river, lake, or pond, finding plentiful food therein, or being fed. An 

 additional factor is the quality of the soil, whether muddy or stony. In 

 cold water, or such as has a stony ground, the carp will not progress 

 favorably. For this reason, the statements concerning its normal size, 

 attained to in a certain given time, differ widely. Very naturally, it 

 will exercise an extremely great influence upon the thriving of the 

 fishes whether the pond contains a great number or only a few of them ; 

 whether it is overstocked, as culturists term it, or whether there are only 

 a proportionate number of fishes in it, according to its capabilitj" of pro- 

 ducing food. Other considerations remain to be mentioned, namely, is 

 the pond provided with supplies from brooks falling into it, or are the 

 fishes to be fed ? The latter course is almost indispensable in the culture 

 of trout. The expenses incurred in this case diminish the iuconie of the 

 culturist ; if not resorted to, the result will be the same, as the value of 

 the fish will be smaller. This feeding is needless with the carp, if it be 

 cultivated judiciously in suitable ponds, and for this reason alone the 

 culture of the carp is preferable to that of the trout. 



In rivers and lakes it grows larger, although the same fish ; for the 

 reason, probably, that in a larger space, which at the same time 

 yields more sheltered retreats, it escapes from the pursuit of man more 

 easily than in regular artificial ponds, and finds more plentiful sup- 

 plies of food. The question of the species, or I would rather say the 

 race, is of great moment, particularly in respect to carp-culture in ponds. 



A favorable result may be expected from the culture of this fish 

 wherever the necessary water is to be found, be it in the North or South, 

 and that, too, as well in ponds as in open lakes and rivers. 



The normal weight which a carp may attain to in three years, whether 

 it be scale-carp, mirror-carp, or leather-carp, is an average of from 3 to 



