[93] POND CULTURE. 559 



afU'i' llic fisiieries in the raisiug pouds have come to a close. If there is 

 no trouble about filling the stock ponds in spring-, and ifthereis asufh- 

 cient area of winter ponds, it may sometimes be advisable to let the 

 stock ponds lie dry during winter, and to cart away the mud. If there 

 are any stock ponds which, after the close of the autumn fisheries, can- 

 not be fdled immediately, or at least not to their full depth, they should 

 not be I'ully stocked at once, but the number of fish placed in them in 

 autumn should be in proportion to their quantity of water, and in tlie 

 following spring they should receive their full stock of fish from the 

 Avinter ])oiids. ]f there are stock ponds with a two years' course, which 

 cannot be entirely filled in the time from autumn till si)ring, and which 

 Iherelbre do not receive their full supply of water till the second year 

 after the fisheries — which often hax)i)ens in large sky ponds — the num- 

 ber of lish should not be proportioned to the entire area of the ])oii(l, 

 but to that i)ortion which is filled during the first year; and this num- 

 ber of fish should not be increased during the second year, for at that 

 time the pond, as a general rule, cannot supply the grown fish with the 

 food which they need for their further development, It will therefore 

 be an advantage if during the second year the fish get ibr their pasture- 

 grounds the edges of the i)ond which hitherto have lain dry, but which 

 are now filletl with good food. If the number of fish was doubled, both 

 the old inhabitants of the pond and the new-comers would suffer want, 

 ;m(l therefore undoubtedly be retarded in their growth. 



The transportation of the fish to (he stock ])onds should be intrusted 

 to thoroughly reliable persons, so that the losses at the time of the fish- 

 eries may not be too large, and the hopes of the i)ond cultivator may 

 not be too severely disappointed. In stO(;k ponds which have a two 

 years' course, regard should be taken to the age of the fish, because if 

 three years' fish are placed in such ponds, they will spawn when they 

 reach the age of i or 5 years, and the ibod will have to be shared 1)y 

 the old ami young fish, in consequence of which the former are retarded 

 in their growth. Ibit if a suitable number of fish of i)rey is placed in 

 the ]»()nds, which do not let the young fish grow u\) and hinder the old 

 ones from sj)awning, less harm will result from i)laciiig in the ponds lisji 

 whi('h have reached too great an age. It may be laid down as a rule, 

 however, that by si)awning a carp is invariably retarded in its regular 

 growth. 



Ilorak eiuimerates the following reasons whycai]) spawii in stock 

 ponds: (I) If old or crip[»led fish, or such as have not been hatched iu 

 spawning ])onds, are placed in the stock ponds; (L*) if the summer is 

 particularly warm, and has much calm weather; (3) if there is too 

 much food in the ])ond ; and (4) if no ])ik(; an^ i)laced in (he ])ond, or if 

 those which were contained in it have perished from want of proper Ibocj 

 or have destroyed each other. Ilorak thinks that the ]>ike i)revent the 

 carp fium siiawning, because they constantly see before them the bitter- 

 rst enoiny of tlicir youn^ ones, A^'f;f>t'*Uug to iny (3jcperieii<)(? J m"! \\V 



