[169] ' POND CULTURE. i]',)') 



slioiild be very narrow, so that tlie small fisli wliicli serve as their food 

 caunot escape. A few steps should lead from tbe edge down to the 

 water. Tanks having tbe dimensions given above can hold 2(),()0() {<» 

 25,000 pounds of carp during winter, if there is a strong current ol 

 water; while in summer, il" the current is weak, they will only hold 

 half that quantity. As every kind of fish should have a separate tank, 

 a number of these will be needed; they should all be in arow separated 

 by wagon-roads about 3 meters broad. On very large i)ond farms it 

 may be necessary to have several rows of tanks. The water for these 

 tanks had best be supplied from ponds on Jiigher ground. Such water 

 is in all cases preferable to river or brook water, beciause it has a more 

 even temi)erature, and during the thaws of spring does not carry any 

 snow water into the tanks. Spring water is still better than pond 

 water. A separate ditch should, if possible, lead from the nuun ditch 

 to every tank. To keep the water at an even height, the intlnx and 

 outflow should be steady. For this i)urpose it will be advantageous to 

 have on one side of the tanks an influx and outflow ditch side by side, 

 so that each tank may be supplied with fresh water and drained when- 

 ever necessary. 



The more tender kinds of fish should be in the tanks which the water 

 enters first ; the order in which the fish o(;cui)y the tanks should, there- 

 fore, be as follows: Terch-pike first, followed by i»ike, perch, carp, and 

 tench. Pike must be separated according to their size, so that the larger 

 ones do not devour the smaller ones. When fish of jn^ey are i)la(;ed in 

 tanks the inferior fish which serve as their food should be put in at the 

 same time. Eels are kept in special boxes placed in one of the larger 

 ponds. These boxes should be well secured, so the eels cannot escape. 

 Horak recommends putting all the carp from one and the same ])ond in 

 special tanks, because fish froiii different ponds, from some unexplained 

 cause, will not be able to stand the winter weather erpially well. Thus 

 carp from one pond can easily be kept till after Easter, while those from 

 another pond must be sold at Christmas. If fish from different ponds 

 are mixed in one and the same tank, they must be constantly sorted, 

 which is difficult, expensive, dangerous, and absolutely imi)ossible if the 

 poud is covered with ice.* As the contents of these tanks are exceed- 

 ingly valuable they should be inclosed by walls or fences, atul a watch- 

 man should dwell close by, aided by a good watch-dog. On a large 

 pond farm, i. e., where there are a great many tanks in which fish are 

 kept for different fish-dealers, it is absolutely necessary that a si)ecial 

 superintendent should be appointed who supervises the placing of the 

 fish in the tanks, and from these, when needed, into the kegs, and keeps 

 an accurate account. Where the quantity of fish which ar(! to be kept 

 is not very large it is best to have more small than large tanks. The 

 carp can then be placed in one or several large tanks, while pike, perch- 



* Horak, Teichwirthschaft, 1869. 



