190 FISH CULTUKE 



they will not have the proper vitality to prop- 

 erly perform the function of spawning. An 

 apparatus has been devised by means of which 

 it is possible for the fish to feed as successfully 

 and certainly when the pond is covered with ice 

 as in the summer. It is a basket about one 

 foot square, made of quarter-inch wire netting, 

 which is filled with cut liver and lowered 

 through a hole in the ice until it is about one 

 foot above the bottom of the kettle, sustained 

 by two wire hangers wrapped around strips of 

 wood laid across the hole. In a few minutes 

 the perch discover the basket and attack the 

 food eagerly, devouring it all in a very little 

 while. 



It is important that ponds for yellow perch 

 have natural sides, and that they shoal to a 

 general depth of not more than two feet, with 

 not less than one foot at the sides, with a kettle 

 at the outlet deep enough to permit the fish to 

 hibernate safely. Water lilies for shade and 

 shelter are important, but the grasses are un- 

 desirable on account of their unsightly appear- 

 ance. In natural waters grasses are almost a 

 necessity, as they form excellent means of at- 



