712 OCEANOGRAPHY 



(Province Mino), carp-culture has progressed very far in this way. In 

 Nagano, which is also noted for silkworm-raising, abundant food for 

 the carp is found in the pupae of the silkworm, taken out of the co- 

 coons when these are reeled. This gives a bad flavor to the meat of 

 the carp, however, which has therefore to undergo the process of 

 purifying culture before it suits the taste of the fastidious. In one 

 village in Shinano (Sakurai Mura) the agricultural society, which 

 represents the whole village, undertakes to utilize 250 acres of paddy- 

 fields in the village in this way, and annually raises 25,000,000 young 

 fish to be sold and raised in the eastern provinces. In Mino, in the 

 prefecture of Gifu, these communistic enterprises have gone farther. 

 There land is partitioned off into what are called " embankment 

 areas," that is, areas inclosed within a circle of embankments 

 against the overflowing of large rivers. In one of these areas, called 

 the Takasu embankment area, all the villages within it, with a total 

 of 75,000 acres of paddy-fields, have combined in the business of carp- 

 culture, and although the enterprise is still in its infancy, succeeded 

 in realizing 48,000 yen in 1902. The example is being followed in 

 other areas. 



The Eel (Anguilla japonica Temminck and Schlegel) 



As has already been mentioned, in the piscicultural establishments 

 in Fukagawa, Tokyo, and in the neighborhood of Maisaka, province 

 Totomi, the snapping-turtle, the carp, the eel, and the gray mullet 

 ("ina"), especially the last three, are often cultivated together in the 

 same ponds. That the eel finds itself one of this trio is due largely to 

 the efforts of Mr. Hattori, the expert pisciculturist. He experimented 

 long as to the best way to make eel-culture a paying business, and 

 succeeded so well that this is now the most profitable of the three 

 fishes named. 



The process is as follows: In April little eels that are brought to the 

 Tokyo market from all the districts around the capital (Tokyo, 

 Ibaraki, Chiba, Kanagawa, etc.) are bought. They are probably in 

 the second year of their growth and are about 15 to 25 centimeters in 

 length and weigh 3 to 20 grams. They are put in the same ponds with 

 the carp and the gray mullet in varying ratios, although the total 

 weight of the fishes put in should not exceed 610 grams per 1 tsubo 

 (6 feet square). They are fed abundantly with the same kinds of food 

 as the carp that is, crushed mollusks, earthworms, etc. It is a 

 wonderful sight when they are fed. They come crowding from all 

 parts of the pond to the spot where food is given them, and literally 

 thousands are seen crowded in hopeless tangles. They climb in their 

 eagerness some distance up almost vertical wooden walls, and, looking 

 at them, one begins to understand how eels are able to make their way 



