IO2 How to obtain it. 



In the cultivation of fish ponds els must not be overlooked. 

 They will manage to get into some ponds, and often do grievous 

 damage. I once turned 1,760 yearling trout into a pond in May, 

 and in August they were taken out again and only 1,220 were 

 forthcoming. A couple of eels, which weighed 3lb., had 

 accounted for over 500 of them. This is but an example of the 

 enormous amount of damage these fish will do if left to them- 

 selves. A correspondent wrote me quite recently that he had lost 

 eighty per cent, of his yearlings, owing to some eels having found 

 their way into the pond. Ponds should, therefore, be made 

 secure against these fish, and where this cannot be done, or where 

 their presence is even only suspected, ejel traps should be set. 

 Those I have successfully used consist of wicker baskets, sunk in 

 the water in suitable places, and buoyed to assist in finding them 

 again. Where, a number are fixed, half-a-dozen or a dozen may 

 he strung on a line a few yards apart. These require baiting, and 

 this may be done by placing in them some pieces of boiled horse- 

 beef or fresh rabbits' paunches. If herrings are procurable, half a 

 herring or a whole one in each trap is a killing bait. It is not really 

 necessary to sacrifice the herring ; the refuse, after they are cleaned 

 for cooking, answers equally well, if not better. It is a good plan 

 to place the bait inside a tin cannister punched full of holes, but 

 the trap, and especially about the entrance, should be smeared 

 with herring also. In some places worms make an excellent bait, 

 and the way to use them is as follows : Get a lot of worms and 

 some small sods, and place them sandwich fashion in a box for an 

 hour or more. The worms will enter the sods, which then make 

 excellent baits. I have had traps worked in this way, and they 

 have caught enormous quantities of eels, sometimes getting the 

 traps packed full. I have also heard of strings of worms being 

 tied into bunches, but never tried the plan. The warm months 

 from April to October are those in which the traps work well. 

 During the cold or winter months they do not act at all in some 

 localities. 



