( 33-3 
Of the Breeding of Fifb. 
HAVING done with ponds, the manner of making, pre- 
ferving, and ufing them, I intend next to difcourfe of fith, and 
how beft to difpofe them to maintain the waters in full ftock: 
but before I come to the ftocking of waters, I muft fpeak of 
‘the courfe of breeding fifth, whereby the ftock is to be recruited 
and fupplied. : } 
Some have thought, that great difference is to be found in 
the forts of carps, fome whereof are more apt to grow up to 
a great fize, others to fpread and look thick, and others for 
the fweetnefs of the meat. I do not deny but there may be 
fome difference, but I cannot efteem it fo confiderable, as to 
be worth the looking after. Varieties in nature are infinite, 
and in the feveral breeds of fith, as of other creatures: yet I 
have not obferved fo much of it in carps, that I could tell 
how to diftinguifh them, where I could promife myfelf better 
fuccefs with one fort than another. ‘This is a nicety which 
fifhmongers, that make a trade of buying and felling, talk of, 
intending it only as a topic of myftery, which all trades affect, 
and to have fomething to fay for valuing or undervaluing, as 
they fell or buy, to juftify in their talk the prices they pro- 
pofe to take or give; therefore this nicety is left to them. 
I do yet believe, that a fort of fifh, bred in great numbers 
in bad waters, over-ftocked, and almoft ftarved, may in pro- 
cefs of time degenerate, and both lofe a good fhape, and be 
lefs 
