ornament ; while the most perfect specimens of the more highly cultivated varieties command higher 

 prices than are given anywhere for any other kinds of fishes. 



The ranchu is the most valuable variety, the oranda shishigashira closely follows, and the ryukin 

 comes next. The wakin is the cheapest, and the other varieties have a value depending on their per- 

 fection and the local demand. The value of goldfish increases so much with their age that it is very 

 desirable for breeders to keep their best fish until full maturity is attained ; and in the case of the 

 ranchu especially the practice is to retain the crop if possible until the fifth or sixth year, when the 

 length is about seven inches, because such fish bring the highest prices. 



In order to convey some idea of the actual and relative values of the different varieties of gold- 

 fish, the following average wholesale prices per 1,000 fish are taken from the operations of a Toyko 

 bleeder a few years ago: Demekin, 1 year old, $10; wakin, 3 years old, $22.50; ryukin, 3 years old. 

 $100; oranda shishigashira, 5 years old, $750; ranchu, 2 years old, $75; ranchu, 5 years old, $2,500. 



A large part of the output of many breeding establishments is bought by itinerant vendors, who 

 visit the ponds daily and take away the fish in shallow wooden tubs arranged in nests and suspended 

 from a shoulder bar. The vendors do a particularly lively trade on holidays and festivals, but they 

 find a steady demand at all times as they wend their way along the crowded streets and through the 

 parks. One street seller seen at a Tokyo goldfish farm earned away at one time 500 goldfish of 

 different kinds and sizes. 



Fish awaiting shipment or collected for sale are held in bamboo baskets and live-cars moored in 

 the mud ponds, or are exposed to view in the cement ponds. The export trade centers at Yoko- 

 hama, Kobe, and Nagasaki, and the variety figuring most prominently in that trade is the ryukin. 



92 



