150 FISH CULTURE. 



well and some highly of jact, and formerly it was in 

 greater request than even salmon, and it was con- 

 sidered a great delicacy ; I cannot, of course, coincide 

 in any such verdict. I have, however, eaten jack 

 when it formed one of the components (scarcely an 

 indispensable one though) of a very excellent dish, 

 in which also were sauces and spices, wine gravy and 

 stuf&ng, hut the game was hardly worth the candle. 

 The best jack I ever a,te was one of four pounds from 

 the Eiver Till, in Northumberland, and it certainly 

 was an enjoyable dish ; but the Till jack have a very 

 high character, and justly. Possibly their food may 

 have something to do with it, as no fish but the 

 salmonidse, minnows, and a very few perch, inhabit 

 the TiU. 



Some people even yet waste port wine over carp, 

 but ,sure I am that it is g, mistake, at any ratei, as 

 regards our ordinary English pond carp. But I must 

 own that we do not manage our ponds with the same 

 care and skill as they do in Holland. Of this, 

 .however, I shall have to speak presently. In a river 

 it cannot be denied that a carp is a far better fish 

 than he is in a pond. Indeed, as regards its desira- 

 bility both as. a table and as a sporting fish, its capa- 

 .bilities are much increased in the river. Of late 

 .years many of them have been turned into, and have 



