200 THE COMPLETE ANGLER. [PART i. 



months, if they be fat : but you are to note that he is a French- 

 man ; and we English will hardly believe him, though we know 

 frogs are usually eaten in his country : however he advises to 

 destroy them and kingfishers out of your ponds. And he advises 

 not to suffer much shooting at wildfowl ; for that, he says, 

 affrightens, and harms, and destroys the fish. 



Note, that Carps and Tench thrive and breed best when no 

 other fish is put with them into the same pond ; for all other fish 

 devour their spawn, or at least the greatest part of it. And note, 

 that clods of grass thrown into any pond feed any Carps in 

 summer ; and that garden-earth and parsley thrown into a pond 

 recovers and refreshes the sick fish. And note, that when you 

 store your pond, you are to put into it two or three melters for 

 one spawner, if you put them into a breeding-pond ; but if into a 

 nurse-pond, or feeding-pond, in which they will not breed, then 

 no care is to be taken whether there be most male or female Carps. 



It is observed that the best ponds to breed Carps are those that 

 be stony or sandy, and are warm, and free from wind ; and that 

 are not deep, but have willow-trees and grass on their sides, over 

 which the water does sometimes flow : and note, that Carps do 

 more usually breed in marl-pits, or pits that have clean clay 

 bottoms ; or in new ponds, or ponds that lie dry a winter season, 

 than in old ponds that be full of mud and weeds.* 



* It is observable that the author has said very little of pond-fishing ; which is, in 

 truth, a dull recreation ; and to which I have heard it objected, that fish in ponds are 

 already caught. Nevertheless, I find that in the canal at St James's Park, which, 

 though a large one, is yet a pond, it was, in the reign of Charles II., the practice of ladies 

 to angle. 



" Beneath, a shole of silver fishes glides, 

 And plays about the gilded barges' sides ; 

 The ladies, angling in the chrystal lake, 

 Feast on the waters with the prey they take : 

 At once victorious with their lines and eyes, 

 They make the fishes and the men their prize." 

 WALLER. Poem On St James's Park, lately improved by hh Majesty. 



As the method of ordering fish-ponds is now very well known, and there are few 

 books of gardening but what give some directions about it, it is hoped the reader will 

 think the following quotation from Bowlker sufficient, by way of annotation on this 

 chapter :. 



" When you intend to stock a pool with Carp or Tench, make a close ethering hedge 

 across the head of the pool, about a yard distance of the dam, and about three feet above 

 the water, which is the best refuge for them I know of, and the only method to preserve 

 pool-fish ; because if any one attempts to rob the pool, muddies the water, or disturbs 

 it with nets, most of the fish, if not all, immediately fly between the hedge and the dam, 

 to preserve themselves ; and in all pools where there are such shelters and shades, the 

 fish delight to swim backwards and forwards, through arid round the same, rubbing and 

 sporting themselves therewith. This hedge ought to be made chiefly of orls, and not 

 too close ; the boughs long and straggling towards the dam ; by which means you may 

 feed and fatten them as you please. The best baits for drawing them together, at first, 

 are maggots, or young wasps ; the next are bullock's brains and lob-worms, chopped 

 together, and thrown into the pools in large quantities, about two hours before sunset, 

 summer and winter. By thus using these ground-baits, once a day, for a fortnight 



