FISH CULTURE. 939 



Stocking Ponds. The question is often asked by beginners, with what shall I 

 commence fish-farming ? Shall I buy the eggs and try to raise them, and wait three years 

 for full-grown fish, or shall I buy adult fish, and from them take fish ? The answer to this 

 question depends upon two circumstances. First, how much money you have; and second, 

 how long you wish to wait. It is much cheaper to buy the eggs than the adult fish; but then 

 you will have to wait two or three years before you have any breeders. The wisest and 

 safest plan would be to try a few thousand eggs, and also a few hundred two-year-old fish. 

 Ten thousand eggs would cost thirty dollars, and two hundred two-year-olds would cost about 

 forty dollars. Two hundred two-year-olds would probably give about twenty thousand eggs. 

 If you take this advice, you will have eggs to experiment with the first year. With care, 

 you will hatch out more or less, but in any case your experience will be invaluable to you 

 for the next year, and you will have a stock of breeders, to furnish eggs, as you want them. 



Diseases of Fry. This part of fish-raismg is least understood as yet. After the egg 

 sac is absorbed and the fry begin to swim about, a sick one is very easily distinguished. 

 The healthy trout swim in the current with their heads up stream, darting about here and 

 there after minute particles of food. The diseased ones wander about listlessly, swimming 

 round and round continually. They may also be known by the size of their heads, which 

 appear much larger than their bodies. The head of a young trout is the largest portion of 

 the fish, even when well, but when sick the fish appears to be all head. 



Before the food sac is gone the trout is often afflicted with a swelling over the sac; a 

 membrane forms there, swells out large and is filled with a watery substance. We call the 

 disease &quot; dropsy,&quot; or &quot; blue swelling.&quot; Sometimes the trout may be saved by making an 

 incision in the swelling and letting out the water, but as with care only a few of them are 

 affected in this way, it is better for the fish culturist to hatch more eggs than he expects to 

 raise than to bother with a surgery he does not understand. In other words, hatch more 

 than you want, and keep the strongest and best. 



There is a small worm which is one of the greatest enemies that the young fry have. 

 It spins a web in the water to catch the young fish, just as a spider does on land to catch flies. 

 The web is as perfect as that of the spider and as much mechanical ingenuity is displayed in 

 its construction. It is made as quickly and in the same way as the spider s, by fastening the 

 thread at different points and going back and forth until the web is finished. The threads 

 are not strong enough to hold the young trout after the umbilical sac is absorbed, but the 

 web will stick to the fins and get wound around the head and gills and soon kill the fish. It 

 is even more destructive to white fish, which are much smaller than trout when first hatched. 

 The threads spun by the worm seem to be much finer than the common spider s web, and 

 they are not visible in the water until the sediment collects upon them. They can then 

 be seen very plainly. The webs can not be spun where there is much current and can be 

 easily seen in still water by a close observer. But after all the principal causes of the death 

 of trout are, first and foremost, starvation ; nine-tenths of all the young that die are literally 

 starved. Secondly, rough handling; the least twisting or wringing of a fish with the hands 

 will kill it. Thirdly, lack of sufficient water, and fourthly, the temperature of the water. 

 These four difficulties, all of which are preventable, will account for the death of most of the 

 fish that die. 



Diseases and Enemies of Adult Trout. The diseases to which adult trout are 

 subject are numerous and often fatal. Sometimes a trout will be observed to have a white 

 fungus growing upon it in spots. This will spread over the fish until it dies. Sometimes fish 

 will turn to a black color. This always seems to be an indication of blindness, as we have 

 never observed this peculiar color unless the fish was partially or totally blind. The fungus 

 which grows upon the fish is probably not a disease, but is caused by, or is the indication of 

 a disease. Nothing is known about remedies. If only a few trout are affected, take them 

 out, as they will be sure to die. If the trout begin to die in numbers, change them to another 

 pond, if possible, or give them more water. This is all we can do for them. The dead trout 

 should be taken out of the pond as fast as they are discovered. They will rise to the surface 

 only in very rare cases, but generally sink to the bottom, and if there is much moss in the 

 pond they are lost to sight, and decaying on the bottom will foul the pond. If there is much 

 sickness among the trout, we generally consider it a sign of insufficient water. 



There are but few enemies of the trout in artificial ponds. If the ponds are near the 

 house, and people constantly about them, there will be no trouble with the birds which usually 

 prey upon fish such as the kingfisher, fish-hawk, and crane. Even if the ponds are some 

 distance from the house, the water will probably be too deep for the fish-hawk and kingfisher 

 to do much mischief, as it is only in shallow water that they can be certain of their prey. 



