550 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [84] 



To be ablo to stock properly the rnisiuii," ponds, one should be thor- 

 oughly ncquiiiiited with their capacity of furnishing the necessary (luan- 

 tity of suitable food, taking proper regard to the location of the ponds 

 and the temperature of the water. The lirst step will be to divide one's 

 ponds into spawning, raising, and stock ponds; next the raising ponds 

 will have to be divided into medium, good, and poor ponds, and these 

 again should be classed according to their size. On well-regulated 

 pond farjns, which possess a sufhcient number of ponds, the raising- 

 ponds will be divided into two classes ; and in those of the lirst class the 

 young fry, and in those of the second class the two years' lish \\ ill be 

 placed. Wherever this is imi)ossiblc, a three years', or at least a two 

 years' course in the stock ])onds will become necessary. For raising 

 poiuls of the tirst class it will be best (o select small imnds, as they are 

 more likely to sui)]>ly the conditions ui)on which depends the rapid 

 growth of the young fry, viz., quiet, the greatest i)ossible degree of 

 warmth of the water, and shallow, ami extensive nuirgins. Ponds, 

 fed from rivers, brooks, or larger ponds, should be avoided as much 

 as possible, so that the young fry may not be injured or entirely de- 

 stroyed by fish of prey, which enter the pond from the above-mentioned 

 sources. Although both the young fry and the two years' fish need 

 good ponds for their successful development, it will neverthless be ad- 

 visable, whenever one has the choice between good and medium ponds, 

 to place the young fry in the medium ])onds, because experience has 

 shown that it is injurious if young fry, which have come from spawning 

 ])omls having an abundance of good food, are placed in ponds where they 

 find less and inferior food. This will retard their growth, because, un- 

 accnstomed to i)rivations, they are unable to bear them. It is, there- 

 fore, necessary, if possible, to assign good ponds for the young fry, so 

 as to afford them quiet, warmth, and ample food. 



l^^rom the above it nuiy be implied what kind of ponds should be 

 selected as raising ponds of the first class for the two years' fish. As 

 these fish are larger, they should also be assigned to larger ponds; or if 

 this is imi)ossible, the smaller ponds shoidd not be stocked too heavily. 

 I'rom this it follows that the entire i)ond area for the second raising 

 year should, in extent, exceed that of the tirst year, if the two-year-old 

 tish are to reach their lU'oper development. But there is another rea- 

 son why the smaller ponds should be selected for the young fry, viz., 

 because these little tish can move about with greater ease in their shal- 

 low grassy edges and thus make it possible to lind food, in places where 

 tlie two-year-old fish, owing to their greater size, could hardly go. In cases 

 where it becomes necessary to stock such ponds with larger fish, it will 

 be well, with a view to deriving the fullest possible benefit from these 

 ponds, to place in them also some young fry. This should not, how- 

 ever, become the rule, but only be a rare exception, and on a well-regu- 

 lated pond farm it will always be best to stock each pond only with oni; 

 and the same k'lid of fish. 



