268 



SMALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 



[Chap. II. 



innumerable ova can be turned to account for the benefit of man. Tlicrc 

 is, liowever, sometliing to do after the eggs have become fish, and tliat is, to 

 confine them within certain limits by a" dam, until thc}' are old enougli to be 

 able to take care of themselves, and make fight against the larger fish which 

 would eat them uji. There are now three or four establishments in the 

 country for the artificial breeding of fish, and we sec no reason why every 

 lake and river may not be filled with life and food, and made to make an 

 amjtle return for all investments. 



The cultivation of fish in France and some other countries of Europe has 

 become as much of a trade as any other occupation, and the results in sui)ply- 

 ing food and affording a handsome recompense to the owner have been equal 

 to the most sanguine expectations. It is surprising that more attention is 

 not paid to it in this country where the facilities are unsurpassed. Occasion- 

 ally an individual makes a trial, but little however has yet been done in this 

 line compared with what might be accomplished. A writer in a South 

 Carolina paper gives a description of a domestic fish-pond on the plantation 

 of Mr. Freeman Tloyt, Sumtervillc. Mr. Iloyt had a small stream of water 

 which ran through a low place in such a form as to enable him, by a dam of 

 some 50 yards long, to construct a pond of some 7U0 feet in length by 150 in 

 width, with a depth varying from the shores to 12 or 15 feet in the center. 

 This gave him a pond of over two and a half acres, Avhere lie could raise 

 nothing. He dej^osited in the pond eight good-sized trout, and about 300,000 

 eggs, with a larger amount of smaller fish for the trout to feed upon, and in 

 one year the water was literally swarming with the finny tribes. His trout 

 one year old are some seven inches in length. The water running from the 

 dam passes through a sieve, so that the fish can not escape from the pond. 

 The necessary apparatus for cultivating, feeding, and taking care of the fish 

 costs but a small sum, and the proceeds of the pond will be a source of much 

 pleasure and profit. And this is but one instance in thousands which might 

 with equal facility be turned into a source of revenue. 



In many sections of the country numerous springs and streams abound, 

 confined within narrow valleys, that may be converted into permanent ponds 

 and thus be made to yield a profit in fish far beyond the capacity of the 

 same area of the best of land devoted to the most profitable farm crops. 

 These streams when supplied M-ith living springs may be converted into 

 nurseries of trout — the best of all fresh-M-ater fish. The streams or ponds 

 more sluggish in their nature may be made equally productive in a supply 

 of still-water fish. This subject has been brought into extensive practice in 

 France and other portions of Europe, and more recently a number of suc- 

 cessful trials have been made in the United States to multiply domestic fishes, 

 which may be as much at the command of the owner as the fowls in his 

 barn-yard, affording an equal luxury and at a much less cost. 



Of artificial propagation of fish in Scotland and Ireland, a late number of 

 the Manchester (England) Guanlian said : " As several reports have been 

 circulated in the newspapers to the effect that the attemi^t to propagate 



