208 FISH CULTURE. 



drag of the net.^ They are sometimes taken up to 

 ten and twelve pounds' weight. They will do well 

 in a pond with carp and tench, particularly if there 

 are any deep holes in it, and they will afiford variety 

 for the sportsman; hut they are of no great value 

 for the table, as I think; probably, split and dried 

 like haddocks is the best way of preparing them. 

 They are salted and eaten largely by the poor in 

 Ireland. The French have an old motto, to the 

 effect that "he who hath bream in his pond may 

 bid his friends welcome." There is no accounting 

 for taste. 



' In Lough Erne vast shoals of bream may occasionally be seen 

 swimming at the surface and rippling the water, so as to resemble 

 the effects of a sudden puff from a breeze of wind. 



