26 THE GOLDFISH AND ITS CULTURE. 



At that time means of transportation were meager and very slow, 

 so that the cultivation of fish in the interior was a prime necessity, 

 yet notwithstanding the rapid transit on the railroad of the present 

 time, putting inland places in close connection with the ocean and 

 other natural fish reservoirs, pond culture may be and is carried on 

 with both success and profit. Though the railroad has made the salt- 

 water fish a great rival of that cultivated in fresh water, the latter 

 nevertheless has the advantage of always being marketable and close 

 at hand. 



To so successful a degree has pond culture arrived at the present 

 day, that one is enabled to propagate the scaly tribe in quantities 

 without limit. 



The fish that was principally, if not to say exclusively, cultivated 

 in ponds in former days, was the famous German carp; the estab- 

 lishments founded three and even four centuries ago being still in 

 successful operation, and may at any time be seen in various parts of 

 Austria and Germany. So thoroughly has the industry been studied 

 that it might almost be dignified with the name of a science. The 

 profits arising from it are enormous, and it may be that interest has 

 had something, if not very much, to do with the pond culture as it is 

 now carried on. 



To give the reader an idea of its extent in those countries, it may 

 be said that the carp ponds belonging to the manor of Wittengau 

 number 250, and cover an area of 22,000 acres, the annual yield of 

 fish from which is one-half million of pounds. Similar establish- 

 ments are found on the manor Konigswartha, in Upper Silesia, with 

 205 ponds, covering 9,000 acres; the manor Peitz-Cottbus (Branden- 

 burgh) with 72 ponds, covering 5,600 acres. These and many other 

 large establishments, to say nothing of thousands of ponds scattered 

 all over Central Europe, give ample evidence that the industry is one 

 of magnitude and importance. 



