244 AMERICAN FISH CULTUKE. 



by hand stirring, and the eggs then being washed are dis- 

 tributed into the boxes. 



Mr. Grillone carries on all his operations with the 

 greatest possible precision. He has a large clear glass 

 bottle marked off in divisions, each of which contains 800 

 eggs, and he numbers the divisions allotted to each par- 

 ticular fish, which are sown into a similarly numbered 

 division in his box, so that by referring to his index-book 

 he can trace out any peculiarity in the eggs, etc. 



III. 



CULTURE OF CARP.* 



In ancient times there used to be immense ponds filled 

 with carp in Prussia, Saxony, Bohemia, Mecklenburg, and 

 Holstein, and the fish was bred and brought to market with 

 as much regularity as if it had been a fruit or a vegetable. 

 The carp yields its spawn in great quantities, no fewer than 

 700,000 eggs having been found in a fish of moderate 

 weight (ten pounds) ; and, being a hardy fish, it is easily 

 cultivated, so that it would be profitable to breed in ponds 

 for the fishmarkets of populous places, and the fish-sales- 

 men assure us that there would be a large demand for good 

 fresh carp. It is necessary, according to the best autho- 

 rities, to have the ponds in suites of three viz., a spawn- 

 ing-pond, a nursery, and a receptacle for the large fish 

 and to regulate the numbers of breeding fish according to 

 the surface of water. It is not my intention to go minutely 

 into the construction of carp-ponds ; but I may be allowed 

 to say that it is always best to select such a spot for their 

 site as will give the engineer as little trouble as possible. 



* From the " Harvest of the Sea." 



