THE NURSERY. 69 



then nothing needs to be done with the water but to 

 let it flow into the pond in the way most natural to it ; 

 but if boxes or tanks are used to raise the young 

 fish in, then it is desirable to collect together all 

 the water from the various troughs into a common 

 reservoir, or at least into a common aqueduct, from 

 which to draw, in the quantities needed, for the supply 

 of the rearing boxes. 



Leaving the water here, we will enter at once upon 

 the discussion of the methods of rearing the young fry. 



The methods are two in number, i, By the use of 

 ponds ; and 2, by the use of rearing boxes or nurseries. 

 Of these two methods the rearing boxes are by far 

 the safest for the first two or three months. I do not 

 deny that satisfactory results have been obtained from 

 the use of ponds at this stage, but I regard these as 

 the exceptions. They were ponds peculiarly adapted 

 to the wants of the young fry. As a rule, not one pond 

 in ten, nor one in twenty, is safe for the very young fry. 



Ponds, when contrasted with rearing boxes, present 

 the following points of comparison. 



i. As soon as the young fish are put into the pond 

 they scatter to all parts of it, and cannot be brought 

 together to feed. The consequence is that many get 

 away into corners or holes, become weak from want of 

 food, and die, while nineteen twentieths of the food 

 fed to the fry in the pond is wasted, and only serves 

 to foul the water. In rearing boxes the fish are all 

 kept compactly together, where they are evenly fed, 

 and where, owing to their being compact, almost all 

 the food is consumed. 



