Radcliffe. — Pond Culture in the Philippines. 291 



hemp fibre made into a square scoopnet or a rectangular 

 piece of the same material used as a seine serve to catch the 

 fish. The fishermen wade parallel with the beach, dragging 

 the net near the surface and straining out the young fry. 

 These are placed in earthenware vessels holding five or six 

 quarts, two or three thousand fry in each. 



The catch is transported with all possible haste to the 

 ponds and disposed of at varying prices depending upon 

 local conditions, size and abundance of fish, distance from 

 fishing" grounds, weather conditions, etc. The number of 

 fish in each vessel is estimated by holding one valve of a 

 clam shell or a small white earthenware dish below the sur- 

 face of the water. Against the white surface the larval fish 

 become visible and the number swimming above it noted. If 

 buyer and seller fail to agree, the laborious process of count- 

 ing at least a part of the catch is resorted to. For recording 

 the count small pebbles or the shells of a small univalve, 

 divided into lots of a hundred each are used. The fish are 

 immediately planted in the smaller ponds. 



The following records of fry planted indicate roughly 

 the number of fish the ponds are capable of supporting. In 

 one pond 60 by 120 feet, 600 fry were planted ; in two p< »nds 

 35 by 58 and 30 by 120 feet, 1,500. and in a series covering 

 about six acres 150,000 fry were planted annually. When 

 the ponds are to serve as temporary retainers five to six times 

 this number may be planted. Some of the owners of small 

 ponds use them for this purpose alone, purchasing their 

 stock for from $1 to $3 per thousand and selling later at 

 $10 to $40 per thousand. 



As the fish kept in this manner are largely dependenl 

 upon the tide for food, their growth is often considerably 

 retarded. With an abundance of food in ponds not over- 

 stocked, their growth is exceedingly rapid. Thus a fish 3/5 

 of an inch long planted in April, may reach a length of a 

 foot by August, 16 inches by November and 18 inches the 

 following March. The fish feed upon one of the algre 

 (CEdif/oniuiu). This grows best in shallow pools of still 



