368 THE VILLA GARDENER. 



5000th part of the bulk of the water ; ordinai'y river water usually containing 

 the 100th part of oxygen. Hence, tench will thrive in deep muddy holes, 

 where no other fish could exist ; though, in this case, they shouJd be kept a 

 week or ten days in clear water, before using for the table, in order that the 

 muddy taste may go off. The tench is covered with a thick slimy mattei-, 

 which is said to have a healing property for other fish if they rub themselves 

 against it when they are wounded ; and hence the tench is vulgarly called the 

 fishes' physician. The perch requires clearer water than either the carp or 

 the tench, and will thrive in rivers where the current is not too rapid. When 

 kept in stews, there should be a stream of water constantly running through 

 these. The perch eats worms, flies, and young fish of its own kind, and also 

 minnows, and small roach, dace, &c. The eel thrives in deep, muddy, shady 

 ponds, where, however, the water must not be stagnant. Eels attain the 

 greatest size in millponds, or in muddy rivers, in the soft banks of which they 

 can bury themselves 12 or 16 inches deep, while the stream continues con- 

 stantly running its course over the mud, and where they are frequently found, 

 and dug out or speared, in the winter. In stews they may be fed at discre- 

 tion, with snails, frogs, worms, &c. ; and will attain a large size, but they are 

 seldom kept in ponds, as they destroy other fish. It is not known to many 

 persons that the eel, in the summer season, frequently quits the water during 

 the night, and wanders among grass in search of slugs, frogs, and worms ; 

 yet this is the case, and where there is a mill-pond, or a dam between two 

 ponds, large eels may often be seen in a warm summer's evening, when the 

 meadows are wet with dew, making their way, with an undulating, or wrig- 

 gling, though not very rapid motion, through the long grass, in search of food, 

 or from one pond to the other. The pike grows to a large size in stews or 

 ponds, where it requires clear and hard water ; but it is so voracious that its 

 keep is very expensive, as it devours all the other fish, and even all the fry of 

 its own species that come within its reach. "Eight pike," says Mr. Jesse, 

 " about 5 lbs. weight each, consumed nearly 800 gudgeons in three weeks." 

 "In default of other fish," says Mr. Yarrell, "pikes will seize moor-hens, 

 ducks, or indeed any animals of small size, whether alive or dead." They 

 swim rapidly, and dart at their prey with great fierceness^, and from this, 

 their extraordinary strength and boldness, and their voracity, they afibrd 

 more sport than most other kinds of fish to the angler. The roach and dace 

 are sometimes kept in ponds, and have a beautiful appearance in the water, 

 but their flesh is insipid and woolly. Gudgeons, and other common small 

 fish, are usually found in rivers ; as are trout, which, however, may be kept, 

 and will attain a lai-ge size, in ponds which have a hard rocky bottom, clear 

 water, and a constant stream running through them. 



454. Other animals that may be kept in country residences. — Those who 

 wish to add to their sources of recreation and amusement may keep land 

 tortoises, much in the same manner as we have proposed to keep rabbits, but 

 with a smaller exercising-ground, and they may feed them with corn, meal, 

 and succulent vegetables, and use them as food ; or they may keep them in 

 the open garden, being fed with lettuces, cabbages, &c., and allowed to 

 burrow in the soil during winter. Tortoises, howevei-, cannot be kept, except 

 in mild situations, not much above the level of the sea, for they are very 

 impatient of cold. The tree frog, which feeds on flies, might be kept in 

 cages, or at liberty, in green-houses and vineries ; either merely as an orna- 



