1056 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



6803. The tench {Cyjrrinus tinea, L., b) inhabits almost every where in stagnant waters ; 

 grows quickly, and reaches from four to eight pounds weight ; is very fertile and tenacious 

 of life, and will live all the winter under the ice ; feeds on worms and water plants ; is 

 very foolish, and may be easily caught ; body covered with a thick mucus, and small 

 scales which adhere firmly to the skin, above dark-green, the sides above the line green, 

 beneath yellow, belly white ; varies in its colors by age, sex, or the waters it inhabits ; 

 flesh white, soft, and well tasted. 



6804. In stocking with tench the number per acre may be more than ofcarp. In Berkshire, where there 

 are many ponds for the preserving of fish, they usually stock with tench or carp in the proportion of one 

 hundred to the acre, the fish remaining four years in them. But in the management of Sir Harry Fea- 

 therstone, in Sussex, in a pond of twenty acres reduced to sixteen by the deposition of mud, the stock is 

 generally in the proportion of twelve hundred carp and an equal number of tench ; or at the rate of seven- 

 ty-five brace to the acre. And in this proportion they are said to succeed well. 



6805. The gudgeon {Cyprinus gobio, L., c. ) is a very inferior fish to the carp or tench, but 

 being of easy culture and rapid increase, is kept in many places as food for pike and perch. 

 It inhabits gentle streams and lakes of Northern Europe ; is tenacious of life, and very 

 fertile : about eight inches long ; feeds on herbs, worms, insects, the fry of other fish, and 

 parts of carcases ; body narrow, spotted, above livid, the sides above the line blue, 

 beneath whitish yellow, but it varies its colors by age, the different waters it inhabits, 

 and its food ; flesh white, and very grateful. 



6806. The perch (Perca Jluviatilis, L., d) is an excellent fish, and though naturally 

 found in streams in Europe and Siberia, yet will live in large ponds, or lakes, provided 

 the water be clear. It grows to two feet long ; back and part of the sides deep green, with 

 five broad black bars, which are sometimes dark-green or blue, and very rarely wanting ; 

 belly white, tinged with red ; swims with great swiftness and at a certain height in the 

 water ; is tenacious of life, but eagerly takes a bait ; feeds on aquatic insects and smaller 

 fish ; spawns in May arid June, and is very prolific ; it has no real air-bladder, and from 

 its integuments may be obtained a kind of glue; flesh very delicate. 



6807. In stocking with perch, as they are great breeders, six hundred to the acre may 

 be sufficient. 



6808. The pike (Esox lucius, L., e) inhabits most lakes of Europe, Lapland, Northern 

 Persia, and North America, and is found even in the Caspian Sea ; swims, and grows very 

 rapidly, one to eight feet long ; is extremely voracious and long-lived ; feeds on almost any 

 thing which comes in its way, even its own tribe ; spawns from February to Aptil ; body 

 above black, the sides cineraceous spotted with yellow, beneath white dotted with black ; 

 rarely orange spotted with black or green ; scales small, oblong, hard. The pike is best 

 reared in deep ponds by itself, in which some gudgeon may be put to breed for its food. It 

 will thrive in waters, partaking of the chalybeate quality, in which few other fish would live. 



6809. The goldfish {Cyprimts auratus, L.) is an inhabitant of the rivers of China and 

 Japan, and is naturalized almost every where on account of its elegance and vivacity ; 

 the colors vary greatly, but are naturally and mostly of a most splendid golden hue ; 

 scales large. It is bred in small ponds in gardens near London and Paris for sale, as an 

 ornamental inhabitant of crystal vases, or garden basons of water. 



6810. The minnow {Cyprinus phoxinus, Li.,/), the dace (C. lentiscus, L. ), and the roach 

 (C. rutUus, L.), are very small fish, which abound, the first in gravelly streams, and the 

 others in still waters ; both are useful as affording food to other fish, and may therefore be 

 put into fish ponds. They are also very good to eat. 



681 1. Of the troutand salmon family, there are several species, as the lake trout, gilt and 

 red charr, which inhabit Alpine lakes in northern countries, and might probably be intro- 

 duced with advantage in the lakes of Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the Highlands of 

 Scotland. The red charr is caught in Keswick lake. Tlie salmon and salmon-trout 

 (Sulmo salar, and S. trutta,) require salt water and a river ; and the fresh water trout 

 (S./ario,) requires too rapid a stream for art to imitate ; they succeed, however, to a cer- 

 tain extent, in very slow running waters which are clear. 



6812. The eel {Murtena anguUla, L.) inhabits almost everywhere in fresh waters; 

 grows sometimes to the length of six feet, and weighs twenty pounds ; in its appearance 

 and habits something resembles the serpent tribe ; during the night quits its element, and 

 wanders along meadows in search of snails and worms ; beds itself deep in the mud in 

 winter, and continues in a state of rest ; is very impatient of cold, and tenacious of life ; 

 the flesh of such as frequent running water is very good; is viviparous, and has 116 

 vertebrae. One advantage of the eel is, that it will thrive in muddy ponds of very small 

 size, where no other fish would live. 



681 S. On the S7ihject of cultivating fishes it may be observed, that the waters of some ponds 

 are better adapted for raising some sorts of fish than others. Thus, those where the water 

 is rich and white are more adapted for carp ; while such as have a thicker appearance, and 

 where there is a greater deposition of muddy matter, are better suited to tench. Perch 

 are capable of being raised in almost any sort of ponds. Eels succeed best where the 

 ponds are not very large, but where fed by a spring, and there is a large portion of rich 



