215 



Another, and in some respects even more simple con- 

 trivance for breeding these fish, is the breeding-hurdle. 

 It consists of an ordinary hurdle, on which branches have 

 been intertwined ; it is sunk in a pond, lake, or stream, in 

 any shallow undisturbed spot, and the fish find it a con- 

 venient place on which to cast their spawn, which can then 

 be taken out and transferred to other waters, or left to 

 hatch out. It is chiefly advantageous where natural 

 spawning places are deficient, and is used to a consider- 

 able extent in France and Sweden. 



Where some primary expense is not a matter of con- 

 sideration, the next method I shall describe to you is 

 perhaps the best and most satisfactory of all. I refer to 

 the pond system of cultivation, which is carried on to such 

 an enormous extent in Germany. The diagram (p. 216), 

 most kindly made for me by Mr. G. A. Audsley, represents 

 a small coarse fish farm, such as I venture to suggest might 

 be most advantageously instituted by the National Fish 

 Culture Association, for the purpose of hatching and rearing 

 fry of all kinds of coarse fish, for distribution to angling 

 clubs and private individuals requiring these fish. I am so 

 often asked by secretaries of angling clubs and others 

 where they can obtain coarse fish for stocking their waters, 

 that I feel certain if the association was in a position to 

 supply the fry of coarse fish in large quantities, the demand 

 would be very large indeed. What holds good in the case 

 of Salmonidae will equally hold good in the case of coarse 

 fish, for to one angler for the former fish there are a 

 hundred anglers for the latter. It will be seen from the 

 diagram that in the arrangement I propose each pond, 

 although supplied from the same stream, is entirely separate 

 from the others. The water flows from the river into the 

 pond, and from the pond into the waste water stream. It 

 would be almost impossible if the water flowed from one 



