THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 221 



ing half out of his watery element in order to obtain his favourite 

 morsel. 



"As all foliage is pernicious, and the decomposition highly injurious to 

 fish, especially to the fry or brood, it must be fully borne in mind that 

 trees or shrubs should never be planted on the borders or margins of the 

 ponds ; but if ornament be required, then only at a sufficient distance, for 

 it is equally necessary to have a free action of air passing over the surface, 

 as it is to have pure and wholesome water, in fact the removal of trees 

 contributes largely to effect both. 



" Fish grown by these directions will not only prove fat, but of a far 

 superior flavour to those taken from common and ill-regulated ponds 

 or stews. 



" If the first pond should get an over-accumulated store of water, it 

 must be let off by the sluice into the second, and so on to the third, and 

 then be suffered to run waste, for no pond ought on any account to 

 overflow or break its boundaries, as by so doing and by conveying the 

 fish to the next pond, it injures that stew by introducing fish of different 

 growths, and so proves ultimately a serious loss ; food would be then 

 insufficient for their joint maintenance, consequently the fish would gain 

 but little in size and weight. 



" If the ponds have an even and well-regulated supply of water, then 

 their depth at the centre need never be more than from three to five feet, 

 shelving to the sides as before stated ; but if only an indifferent supply 

 can be obtained, then they must be twelve or eighteen inches deeper. 



" It is not, however, desirable to have the ponds so situated that a 

 large quantity of fresh water shall suddenly be able to find its way into 

 them, as it both thickens the whole by moving the mud, and being colder 

 and of other properties, it sickens the store for some time, and checks 

 their thriving. A well-regulated supply and co-equal discharge is to be 

 recommended and must be attended to. 



" Having thus far described the base and positions which the ponds 

 ought to have, I shall proceed to lay down the requisite rules, by 

 attention to which a lucrative rental can be obtained, where an estate is 

 adapted for succession ponds. The first pond should be the smallest of 

 the three, the second next in size, and the third the largest, for the fol- 

 lowing reasons. At the period of fishing, as before stated, a great portion 

 of the brood escapes with the flood, which cannot be prevented ; and as 

 another year must elapse before the water or ponds in succession can be 

 fished, too much of the food of the original store would be consumed 

 were not the second pond larger, and so capable of receiving the 

 addition ; it would moreover prove extremely detrimental, as I shall 

 afterwards show. 



" In order to come to the dimensions of the ponds I shall propose the 

 following scale : No. 1, three acres; No. 2, four acres; No. 3, five acres; 

 making altogether twelve acres of water, which, after the first three years 

 of their stores, will produce an annual income from each pond in rota- 

 tion. 



" To stock the ponds with brood, the following simple calculation is 

 sufficient for direction ; viz., to every acre of water in extent, put in 200 



