534 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 
Bielitz and Biala, often contains a considerable quantity of fertilizing 
matter, nature has very clearly indicated that stock raising and pis- 
ciculture must be the principal objects to which attention should be 
paid at Kaniéw and Mirowec. 
From time immemorial the Kaniéw estate had large but badly wa- 
tered ponds, which, in former times, occupied almost the entire terri- 
tory, and which, even now, after having been regulated, occupy 450 
acres, or 45 per cent. of the total area. Of this pond area, 250 acres 
are on the heavy clay soil, 50 on the marshy soil, and 150 on the light 
loamy soil. In many cases, however, two of these soils are found in 
one pond. All the ponds are fed by the Bialka water which, especially » 
during seasons of violent rain-storms, carries with it a great deal of fer- 
tile mud, so that the ponds actually serve as mud reservoirs. But as 
pond cultivation is carried on in these parts on an extensive scale, the 
Bialka water is often insufficient, especially in midsummer, when there is 
so much evaporation from the large sheets of water. This, of course, 
injures pisciculture, and does not allow it to be carried to its highest 
; perfection. Nearly all the ponds in this part of the country are shal- 
low, and invariably incline towards the Vistula. In former times they 
were badly watered, and a system of regulating was inaugurated 
by my predecessor, Herr Potyka (who deserves great credit for his en- 
ergy and perseverance), and has been completed by me at my own ex- 
pense, so that at present nearly the entire pond area is covered with 
water. All the ponds can be drained so thoroughly as to allow of their 
being plowed and planted throughout their entire extent. In these 
parts it has, fortunately, long been kuown that it is not sufficient to 
provide the ponds with an ample supply of good water, and to keep 
their soil fertile, but that it is absolutely essential that the ponds can 
be entirely drained at any time for the purpose of fishing or plant- 
ing. Wherever this cannot be done, there can be no systematic and 
profitable pond cultivation, but merely irregular lake fishing. The 
most profitable part of pond cultivation, viz, their agricultural utiliza- 
tion by planting, is thus entirely lost. 
Of the 450 Austrian acres of our pond area, 400 acres are occupied 
by nine main ponds, one of which has twice the average size; 3 acres 
by five spawning ponds, and finally 47 acres by eight pondsfor the 
young fry, to which, since 1877, there must be added 22 acres occupied 
by three ponds for young fry which were rented from a neighboring 
farm, so that the total pond area of this estate is 472 acres. 
Of the above-mentioned nine main ponds, which are equal to ten 
medium-sized ponds, Mr. Potyka, who deserves great credit for his zeal 
in carp culture, only had the smaller half under the water, the re- 
mainder being either planted by himself or rented out for the same 
purpose. The young‘carp were always left in the main ponds two full 
years, which produced a very fine marketable fish of about 14 kilegram 
average weight. The average yield per acre was, according to the 
