[7] FOOD AND SPAWNING OF CARP, 1149 



caterpillars, &c., and even its own young when still tadpoles ; frogs 

 will sometimes swallow several large cockchafers in rapid succession 

 without chewing them, and through their unlimited voracity they will 

 often fill their stomachs to such a degree as to make their sides appear 

 inflamed. I once even saw a frog jump after a hedge-sparrow with the 

 evident intention of swallowing it. 



In spite of this, the damage done by frogs to our fish ponds is not very 

 great, and sinks into utter insignificance when compared with their use- 

 fulness by destroying many hurtful insects. The frog can, at most, 

 catch only those fish which in some way or other have got into shallow 

 places, or sickly or crippled fish, which even if there were no frogs 

 would never develop into healthy fish. The frog has no gills to aid it 

 in catching any animal in the water ; its eyes sit on the top of its head, 

 indicating that nature has intended it to snatch its food principally from 

 the surface of the water. For the little damage which the frog does by 

 catching young fry it makes ample amends by furnishing, in the tadpoles, 

 abundant and nutritive food for fish, and thus renders itself exceedingly 

 useful to the fish-culturist. The carp has good teeth, and is fully able 

 to masticate this food. It appears that cultivated fish to a certain de- 

 gree like to mix their food ; thus, the carp only devours a certain quan- 

 tity of tadpoles, and until these are digested does not touch this article 

 of food, which has led superficial observers to the conclusion that the 

 carp does not eat any tadpoles. The little water-frog is of special im- 

 portance to carp-culture, as it spawns late in summer, and, as its off- 

 spring serves as food for the young fry, which have grown somewhat 

 larger, and greatly promotes their growth, I have the spawn of the 

 water-frog gathered every year and placed in my ponds. 



Although we are still far from the highest possible aim, and although 

 the favorable results of the fisheries given in my pamphlet must not 

 yet satisfy us, a pond area will even now, if we take into account its 

 occasional use for agricultural purposes, yield a more regular and better 

 income than mere agriculture. But if we succeed in furnishing fish dur- 

 ing their second and third year with cheap and good food, in the manner 

 indicated, our ponds will also during the period when they serve fish-cul- 

 tural purposes, produce more fish, and consequently a greater income— 

 fully as much as that yielded by meadow lands. Taking this into con- 

 sideration, many a farmer who at present labors in vain with the heavy 

 moist soil of his old and 'long-since abandoned ponds, will again put 

 these ponds in good working order ; and in doing this he will not suf- 

 fer any loss, but, on the contrary, if he is a good manager, the result of 

 the fisheries will soon pay his expenses and leave him some money over. 

 One after the other our farmers will follow this example, and gradually 

 our whole country will regain all its old water area. 



It should also be borne in mind that in parts of the country which 

 suffer from drought, ponds by their exhalations furnish the surround- 

 ing vegetation with ample moisture, and thus to some degree counter- 



