CAEP CULTUEE 83 



The spawning-ponds should all have a moder- 

 ately hard bottom, and if it is intended that the 

 eggs are to remain for hatching where they are 

 deposited, then there should be a thick growth 

 of aquatic plants to which the spawn can ad- 

 here. One experienced carp-culturist, however, 

 kept his spawning-ponds entirely clear of plant- 

 life. Instead, he had sheets of bagging ma- 

 terial on which he fastened thickly bunches of 

 grass and plants, and to each comer of the 

 sheet he affixed a weighted pole. This contriv- 

 ance he placed in the pond and then introduced 

 his spawning fish. Every day he removed the 

 apparatus to a pond containing no fish, so that 

 the eggs adhering to it could hatch without any 

 danger of their being devoured. Fresh sheets 

 were then placed in the ponds with the 

 spawners. 



Precautions. — There ought to be no difficulty 

 in taking the eggs from the female and impreg- 

 nating them artificially, in which case time and 

 labour would be saved. Under some circum- 

 stances these eggs could be treated the same as 

 goldfish's eggs when taken artificially, that is, 

 placed upon sheeting and submerged. 



