REARING 213 



days of fish culture shelter was provided by fixed 

 hiding-places at the bottom of the ponds. It was 

 considered ' more natural ' that the fish might, as 

 Buckland put it, * creep under them and lie all to- 

 gether like rats under a barn floor.' The use of these 

 fixed ' hides ' has, however, been condemned by fish- 

 culturists as a delusion and a snare. It is undesirable, 

 as I have pointed out, that any of the fish should be 

 able to conceal themselves permanently from view. 

 Your object is to make them grow rapidly ; and to do 

 this they must be educated to rise readily to their food 

 and not to be always dozing when dinner is served. 

 But a more serious count in the indictment against 

 ' hides ' is that they harbour dirt ; and this is a very 

 grievous offence, where no effort is being spared to 

 promote cleanliness. The necessary shade can, how- 

 ever, be secured in several other ways, as, for example, 

 by natural position, by trees or shrubs, by high 

 banks, by deep ponds, by movable covers, by water- 

 plants, by marginal vegetation. The only objection 

 to marginal trees and shrubs is that the falling leaves 

 give extra trouble in the autumn in keeping the 

 screens clear. 



The ponds should be so constructed that you can 

 run them quite dry whenever required. It is only by 

 doing this that you can be absolutely certain that one 



