igo 



COMMON CARP. 



be in proportion to the food they have, for carp 

 are observed to grow a long time, and to come to 

 a very considerable size, and a remarkable weight. 

 I recollect to have seen a carp above a yard long, 

 and of twenty-five pounds weight ; but I had no 

 opportunity of ascertaining their real age. In the 

 pond at Charlottenbnrg, a palace belonging to the 

 King of Prussia, I saw more than two or three 

 hundred carp between two and three feet long; 

 and I was told by the keeper that they were be- 

 tween fifty and sixty years standing: they were 

 tame, and came to the shore in order to be fed : 

 they swallowed wiih ease a piece of white bread of 

 the size of half a halfpenny roll. 



46 During winter, ponds ought to have their full 

 complement of water ; for the deeper the water 

 is, the warmer lies the fish. In case the pond be 

 covered with ice, some holes must be made every 

 day for the admission of fresh air into the pond, 

 for want of which ^arp frequently perish. In the 

 summer observe to clean the rails and wire-works 

 in the water-courses, of the weeds and grass, which 

 frequently stop them up. Birds that feed on fish 

 must be carefully kept out of the ponds. In a 

 great drought, provision must be made for keeping 

 the water at the same height that it commonly 

 stands at in the pond ; i. e. between four and five 

 feet. If the water stagnates and grows putrid, it 

 must be let off, and a supply of fresh water be 

 introduced from the reservoirs. If the weeds, 

 especially reed and flags, and some of the aquatic 

 grasses, over-run the pond too much, scithes fixed 



