[61] POND CULTURE. 527 



as the area and the nature of the soil have to be taken as they 

 are. To reach his object the ])oik1 cultiuist will have to iini)iovc his 

 ponds gradually, following the hijits given in previous eliapters. xVn 

 intelligent and energetic man will find ways and means to obtain the 

 best possible results, no matter how he is situated. 



4. WINTER PONDS. 



In most cases a pond farm will only have few ponds in which tlie safe 

 wintering of fish can be guaranteed; it will, moreover, hardly be i>os- 

 sible to place all the fish from the raising ponds at once in the stock 

 ponds in autumn ; and finally, even if it was possible to leave the 

 young fish in the raising ponds during winter, the supervision and man- 

 agement of these ponds, especially in an extensive pond farm, during 

 the winter season would be exceedingly difficult, and it will therefore 

 be absolutely necessary to have a few ponds in which a large number 

 of fish can be safely wintered. Such ponds are called winter ponds. 

 " To them," as Ilorak truthfully remarks, ''is entrusted the entire hope 

 of the fisheries; on their success depends the stocking of the stock 

 ponds and of other i)onds ; in other words, the final success of the fisher- 

 ies ; and their failure will have the most serious consequences for the 

 entire pond farm."* They should therefore be adapted to their pur- 

 pose in every respect. Y\"inter ponds should be on low ground, shel- 

 tered by woods, have high banks rising 1 to 1.5 meters above the sur- 

 face of the water, be of considerable depth — not less than 2 to 2.5 

 meters — have the same depth at all times, and be capable of being sup- 

 plied with fresh water at any time. They should be free from mud and 

 aquatic plants, especially in their fish-pit, which should occupy about 

 one-third of their entire area. If winter ponds can receive a constant 

 supply of spring water, this will prove a great advantage, as it is 

 warmer than brook and river water, and very rarely freezes in winter. 

 A supply of water from higher ponds is to be preferred to brook and 

 spring water, as its temperature will better agree with that of the win- 

 ter ponds. 



Considering that only in rare cases will all the above-mentioned 

 qualities be combined in one and the same pond, winter ponds, which 

 have been tried and found to answer their purpose, will rarely be used 

 for other objects. Separate winter i)onds are needed, not only for every 

 kind offish, such as carp, tench, pike, »&c., but every age should also have 

 its special winter pond. The number of winter ponds, and also their 

 size — which need not be very great — will depend on the extent of the 

 pond farm. If it is large, a comparatively greater number of ponds and 

 larger ponds will be r(;quired. 



In order not to render the necessary supervision and management of 

 the fish during winter difficult on account of too great a number of win- 

 ter ponds, large winter ponds are to be preferred to small ones, also for 



*]Ior:ik, Teiehwirthaehaft, 1869. 



