[59] POND CULTURE. 505 



two yiiiuiiicr.s readied only 11 weight of 5 i)0uud8 for 60 fish, but tliat 

 in Uie following year tbey reached the same weight as those which 

 when placed in the i)ond had weighed 26 pounds i)er 60 fish. Such ex- 

 ]K'riences, which are not reliable in all cases, should not induce anyone 

 to overstock the raising ponds during the first year, or to select poor 

 ponds for raising ponds ; much less should this be done with regard to 

 si)awning ponds. It may be laid down as a principle in fish-culture that 

 as the fish develop during the raising years they should, if possible, be 

 transferred from poorer to better ponds. 



2. RAISING PONDS. 



The young fry which have been produced iu the spawning ponds are 

 too small to be transferred at once to the stock i^ouds, where they would 

 become the prey of larger fish before they could be raised to a market- 

 able size. Before being transferred to the stock ponds the young fish 

 should grow still more in size, and also grow stronger; and for this pur- 

 pose they are, for a year or two, placed in other poiuls which are called 

 raising ponds. Good raising ponds are no less important tlian good 

 spawning ponds^ for the rapid production of marketable fish will 

 greatly depend on this. Ilorak characterizes good raising ponds as 

 follows : " They should be located iu low lands, open towards the south, 

 and sheltered towards the north; their water supply should, during 

 thaw and rainy weather, come from the neighborhood of villages and 

 from cultivated fields; their banks should not be sandy, steep, full of 

 reeds, or shaded by trees ; their soil should be favorable to the cultiva- 

 tion of grain, and it should be possible to supply them with the neces- 

 sary water whenever it is deemed desirable. Under favorable circum- 

 stances a Ycry large number of fish may be placed in them; if the 

 weather is favorable the young fry may, during one summer, reach a 

 weight of 60 to 90 i)ounds per 60 lish ; although the result may be con- 

 sidered satisfactory, if in one summer they reach a weight of 30 to 40 

 l)ounds per 60 fish, and if the average weight, per 00 fish, of the fish 

 from all the raising ])onds reaches 18 to 20 iiounds. Kaising ponds lose 

 much of their value, if there is no way of supplying them with water 

 artificially, and if, for fear that they cannot be sufficiently filled in 

 spring, they have to be filled immediately after the autumn fisheries ;* 

 and likewise if, during dry seasons, their water becomes so low that 

 their food producing edges are laid bare. In ponds which are located 

 below villages, and are used for watering cattle, the young fish are 

 often seriouslj' injured, and in many cases entirely destroyed."* 



In my opinion, however, the watering of cattle does not necessarily 

 injure the young fish, but will rather prove a benefit, as experience has 

 shown that the growth of the young fish was favorable in raising ponds 

 where cattle were watered, as they would generally drop their excre- 

 ments. I even do imt deem it dangerous to the fish, if the cattle go 



* Horak, Teichwirthschaft, 1869. 



