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fish for the pleasure it affords to establish the intimate rela- 
tionship which only comes from hand feeding and compan- 
ionship. For this purpose a bit of bread held in the hand 
is the best food, and while the fish may be shy at first, they 
will soon learn to expect their owner and the food, and if 
this is given at regular hours they will be found waiting. 
Usually feeding time gives one their first glimpse of the 
young fish, which may be half grown or not more than an 
inch, or less, in length, according to how the old fish have 
been handled and their confidence. Fish which I have 
bought from dealers and put at once in the ponds some- 
times take months to become tame, and tneir progeny will 
be half grown before they develop much confidence, while 
the same fish, when returned to the pond the following 
Spring will only need to become ac- 
customed to the open pond to re- 
sume intimate relations, and the 
young fry come when very small to 
feed out of our hands. Of course, 
in the aquarium indoors they are as 
tame as kittens. 
If, however, one is building a pool 
expressly for fish it should be made 
with shelving sides so that at the 
margin the water may be much too 
shallow for the grown or half grown 
fish; this should be well planted with 
water plants, especially about the 
edge, so that at the time of spawn- 
ing the eggs may float against and 
adhere to the leaves; then when the 
little fish hatch they will be in shal- 
low water, out of the reach of the 
larger sort, and will remain there 
until old enough to care for them- 
selves. 
The spawning of the goldfish, 
which takes place usually between 
four and nine o’clock in the morning, 
is of much interest. When about to 
spawn, the roe fish begin to swim 
rapidly around the pool, followed 
closely by the male fish, or by sev- 
eral if only one female is spawning 
at a time. The eggs pass from the 
roe in a soft, gelatinous mass which 
separates upon touching the water, 
the eggs floating back from the fish 
and settling against the plants or 
side of the pool, anything with which 
they come in contact. At the same time, the male fish, swim- 
ming close behind the roe, emit a viscid fluid which, coming 
in contact with the egg, adheres to and fertilizes them. 
Unlike a hen’s or bird’s egg, the fish egg has no encasing 
shell, merely a rather tough membrane, and fertilization 
takes place much as the bird’s egg is fertilized in the oviduct 
before it becomes encased in the shell. 
The eggs are small, yellowish-white objects about as 
large as the head of a small pin. They hatch in from two 
to seven days, according to the temperature of the water. 
An interesting experiment is to gather a few of the eggs, 
place them in a thin, clear wineglass of water and set this 
upon the top of a window sash where they can be closely 
observed. Usually one will be able to see more or less of 
the eggs hatch if close watch is kept. The eggs will settle 
to the bottom of the glass; suddenly one is seen to stir 
almost imperceptibly; again, and the motion is more pro- 
nounced. Then the shell falls apart, revealing the tiny inmate, 
coiled within; for an instant he does not stir, then the nearly 
colorless mite straightens out, and presto, is full of life 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
A novel form of aquarium 
September, 1912 
and activity. In appearance the newly hatched fish re- 
sembles nothing so much as a tiny needle of crystal about 
three sixteenths of an inch in length and showing a dark line 
which, by the way, is his spinal column and cord, down his 
back. Color only comes when he begins to feed, and this 
he cannot do until placed in pond water, for the little fry 
cannot eat anything which we can provide—nothing so large 
as to be visible to the human eye. Two big black eyes are 
uncannily conspicuous, indeed the youngster seems to be 
all eyes at this stage of his growth. 
In the commercial hatcheries or in one’s own practice, 
if one is so fortunate as to own two or more ponds, the 
spawn is gathered each morning as soon as laid and de- 
posited upon the moss in the hatching and breeding pools; 
in this way a large percent. of the 
fish are saved. 
There are three kinds of the com- 
mon gold fish on the market: the 
gold fish proper, which are of vary- 
ing shades of red, according to qual- 
ity, the finest being a clear pure red, 
rather dark in color; then there are 
varying shades of red, yellowish- 
red, and amber, many of these last 
are exceedingly beautiful and bring 
a somewhat higher price in the mar- 
ket than other shades of red. Pearl 
fish, which are the white fish and of 
somewhat more value when pure in 
tone and unmixed with other color, 
and the so-called silver fish, which 
are merely uncolored gold fish. 
Usually, in a pool of mixed fish, a 
large percent. will be these uncol- 
ored fish, which at maturity may be 
all red, pure white, amber or a com- 
bination of all these colors. Some- 
times these dark fish are almost or 
quite black and in changing show 
markings of red and black, usually 
distributed with the body red, and 
tail and fins jet black; when marked 
this way they appear in the trade as 
American Orioles and are very beau- 
tiful. Unfortunately they do not re- 
tain these beautiful markings, the 
black disappearing entirely by the 
end of the first year. If one wishes 
the permanent black markings they 
[must purchase the Japanese Orioles. 
Many of the mixed colors are very handsome, much de- 
pending on the depth of the red and the purity of the white 
and the character of the markings. In selecting fish for 
breeding, one should reject any showing poor color or 
markings or defective fins or tails; the loss of a scale or two 
is not of moment, as these are renewed just as one’s finger- 
nails grow again. 
There are several varieties of gold fish which much ex- 
ceed in beauty the common sports; perhaps none of them is 
more beautiful than the fan-tail, especially when grown with 
the perfect triangular tails of three segments. These are 
quite as easily raised as the common sort and should be pre- 
ferred. The fringe tails are another exceedingly beautiful 
fish, really the most graceful things I ever saw. Then there 
are the long-tailed comets and the telescope fish, which last 
are really more curious than beautiful, with their globular 
bodies and protruding eyes; however, one may well covet a 
pair of these when procurable in jet black or the rarer blue 
color. These last fish, however, are seldom brought to this 
country, as they command a very high price at home. 
