42 A BOOK OF THE RUNNING BROOK: 



or in quality as their scaleless American 

 cousin. 



In France little or no attention is given to 

 the scale question, and the carp-breeding there, 

 though most extensive and lucrative, is carried 

 on in an unsystematic manner, differing entirely 

 from that advocated elsewhere. Those who 

 have visited the highlands of the Limousin, will 

 have noticed ponds of all sizes, many of them 

 large enough to be dignified by the more 

 grandiloquent name of lakes, but to the 

 country people one and all etangs and 

 nothing more. These ponds are among the 

 chief sources of wealth of the country, which 

 is mostly but poor soil for cultivation, as a great 

 part of it has only recently been reclaimed from 

 moorland and heather ; they are stocked with 

 carp, and once every three years a great fishing 

 takes place. 



All the able-bodied men of the country-side 

 are engaged for a certain day in October to 

 meet at one of the ponds ; that on the highest 

 level being taken first. The sluices are opened 

 three days previously, and the water allowed to 



