124 PRACTICAL CARP CULTURE. 



mouths open as the buffalo fish does in "piping," while a very slight puff 

 of air would drive many young fish into the trap set for them. 



My attention was first drawn to this habit by watching the old fish, 

 and they invariably thrust their heads up, facing the wind. By a vane or 

 a flag, indicating a change in the current of the wind, when not alarmed, 

 the fish always changed position. Such is the exquisite sensibility of the 

 tentacles, that the fish would often detect a change in the current of air 

 as it swept over the water, and reverse its position before the flag indicated 

 the change. For more than a year I use a United States flag for this pur- 

 pose, but some "trooly loyal" thief came in the night and stole it off the 

 flagstaff, and after that I resorted to other devices for noting a change in 

 the wind. In view of these plainly manifested habits of three and four 

 year old fish in devouring the young during all warm days in the early 

 summer, I cannot entertain the slightest doubt of the cannibalism of scale 

 carp until I first learn how to doubt the evidence of my own senses. But 

 the other reason for the disparity of numbers observed in Mr. Ritchie's 

 pond: During the growing season for carp, and while the younglings are 

 still quite small, the water of the pond is always more or less muddy. 

 The scale fish are so near the color of the water, any little leaf, or blade of 

 grass, or moss in the pond furnishes them a secure hiding place from the 

 larger ones; but it is quite different with the mirror, the golden-colored 

 scales of which make it a "shining mark" and render escape much more 

 difficult. Thus you see I am not a convert to the new-fangled theory that 

 the Deity performed a miracle in the creation of the carp, but believe the 

 "big fish" devour the little ones when man does not wisely exercise his 

 God-given dominion over them, as he does with the "beasts of the field 

 and the fowls of the air." M. T. PEEPLES. 



AN EASY WAY TO MULTIPLY PONDS FISH KEPT IN THE CELLAR. 



POMEROY, ()., December 26, 1886. 



One year ago last spring I put in two 2-year-old scale carp in one of 

 my ponds. Last fall we drew off the water and found about one bushel 

 of carp from one to ten inches long. This fall we drew oft the water, and 

 found I think an even wagon load, from one to sixteen inches long, the 

 largest weighing two pounds. The two old fish weighed seven poundH 

 each. I gathered out all the largest fish and placed them in a large box, 

 which I will now undertake to describe. I first drew two feet of water 

 out of pond, next I built a board fence across the upper end of pond; I 

 now dug a hole large enough for a box 24 feet long, 4 feet wide and 5 feet 

 deep, using the dirt to build a levee from end of box to the board fence*- 

 This makes a pond 40 feet square on each side of the box. The water is 

 four feet deep in the box, and about sixteen inches deep in the sYnali 

 ponds. I should have said before that I banked up dirt against the upper 

 side of the board fence higher than high water mark. I have the box 

 so arranged as to let water from the small ponds to the large pond below r . 

 I put a partition in the large box by nailing slats across the box and filling 



