o88 JKEPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [122] 



many difficulties aud considerable loss. The stock ponds should 1)t^ 

 ready to receive the fish from the raising ponds late in the autuuui, aud 

 considerable difficulty may be experienced iu adding to the already large 

 number of fish in the stock ponds. On the safe wintering of the reg- 

 ular stock of fish the success of the entire pond farm will depend to a 

 great extent. If many of these fish perish during the winter, the farm 

 is thrown back for a whole year ; and if the losses are very great, the 

 consequence will be felt for several years, especially if the young fry 

 have been iujured. If such losses were to repeat themselves for two or 

 more consecutive years, the pond farm would be unavoidably ruined. 

 Winter ponds should, therefore, be selected with the greatest care, ac- 

 cording to the conditions needed for such i)onds, as given in a previous 

 chapter. If for a number of years there have been no losses in these 

 ponds, they may safely be considered good winter i>onds. If, neverthe- 

 less, losses should occur, they are not (;aused by the nature of the win- 

 ter pond, but by hick of ])r()pcr supervision and management during the 

 winter season. 



The number of winter i)on<ls must always be greater than is abso- 

 lutely necessary for the number of fish that are expected to be kei)t 

 during winter. Supernumerary winter j)ouds will often prove not only 

 a great advantage, but they will become an anchor of safety in time of 

 need. Thus, if an excess of young fry is caught in autumn which can 

 successfidly be brought through the winter, they can frequently be sold 

 to advantage in spring, and there will be no necessity for i)lacing pike 

 in the stock ponds in autumn. Sui)pose, however, that from some cause 

 or other the fish begin to droop and perish in one of the winter ponds, 

 aud the only way of escape would be to fish the pond clean, it would be 

 exceedingly awkward if there was no other \H)ud to which the fish can 

 be transferred ; or, to suppose another case, in what a difficult i)Ositiou 

 would a i)ond cultivator be i)la('ed if he should find it impossible to sell 

 all the tisji from the stock ponds in autumn, without having at his dis- 

 posal a supernumerary winter pond for receiving the fish which he can- 

 not sell. 



If a winter pond meets all the conditions required of it, but has not 

 the necessary depth of Avater, the jnpe for the outflowing water should 

 be pia(jed higher, and the necessary quantity of water will soon be ob- 

 tained ; and if this should not suffice the fish-pit will have to be dugout 

 deeper. The principal requisite of a good winter pond is in all cases a 

 sufficient sup])ly of fresh water, which, however, does not imply that 

 ponds which do not have such a supply at all times are absolutely un- 

 suitable for winter ponds. For I know from my own experience that 

 even sky ponds, if of sufficient size and corresponding depth, may carry 

 fish safely through the winter, in spite of the fact that their water sup- 

 ply is purely accidental, subject to frequent interruptions, and often 

 ceases entirely during a severe winter. Such ponds will have to be of 

 larger size and greater depth if thej' are to become good winter ponds. 



