[29] UTILIZING WATER BY FISH-CULTURE. 1129 



a weight of 10 to 15 ponods aud more, and enormous quantities are 

 caught, especially in winter, under the ice. 



This fish is less adapted for raising in ponds, but it is well to let it 

 spawn in good ponds, provided with spawning beds; and when the 

 young fry (which have been produced in enormous numbers) are several 

 weeks or months old, they can be transferred to lakes. The simplest plan 

 is to construct the spawning-ponds close to the lakes and connect them 

 by small ditches, and have grates in these to prevent fish-of-prey from 

 entering the lakes. 



YI.—THE RAISING OF LOACH AND GUDGEONS. 



The loach {GoMtis barhatula L.) is oneof our finest fish, which seldom 

 reaches a length of more than 15 centimeters, but is highly esteemed 

 in many places. In small ponds with sandy and gravelly bottom, or 

 where a river or brook flows through it, these fish can easily be kept, and 

 increase rapidly. The best way is to construct loach-ponds in brooks 

 by gathering the water in some suitable place, and inclose a portion of 

 the brook by fences of wicker-work. The fish thus remain in their 

 natural surroundings, and if fed with the same food as the carp, grow 

 very rapidly. It is quite common to place in the ponds baskets filled 

 with sheep-dung. The best way to catch loach is to use small fish-pots 

 of narrow wicker-work, in which husks, boiled potatoes, boiled blood, 

 cheese, &c., are placed as bait. 



In a similar way the gudgeon {Qobio fluviatUis Cuv.) can be kept 

 Although very small, it forms a savory dish when baked. 



As both these kinds of fish increase enormously, it will be well to 

 construct several small ponds, so that from time to time those which are 

 over-crowded may have some of their fish transferred to other ponds. 



VII.— THE RAISING OE FISH-OE-PREY SPAWNING IN SUM- 

 MER. 



The raising and keeping of fish-of-prey spawning in summer is much 

 less common than that of the carp and other fish of the same family, 

 for the simple reason that it is much more dififlcult to provide the nec- 

 essary food. The only fish which can be mentioned in this connection 

 are the pike, the perch, and the perch-pike. 



The pike {Esox lucius L.) is a most voracious fish-of-prey ; and its rais- 

 ing can only be profitable where there is an unlimited supply of worth- 

 less food-fish, and where pike fetch a good price in the market. In 

 most cases it will be best to place young pike in raising-ponds and 

 growing-ponds for carp, or in ponds for crucians, in which they grow 

 rapidly, and also propagate, and from which they can easily be removed 

 before they have grown too large. Water containing many frogs is 

 particularly well suited for keeping pike, as frogs form the favorite food 

 of this fish. 



