188 COMMON CARP; 



now and then found. I think it however not ad- 

 viseable to put carp and tench, or carp and crusians, 

 in one pond, unless it be done for experiment's 

 sake ; in which latter case a small pond, free from 

 other fish, with one or two fish of each kind, will 

 be sufficient to gratify curiosity, without debasing 

 the breed of carp in a large pond. The young fry 

 being hatched from the spawn, by the benign in- 

 fluence of the sun, they are left the whole summer, 

 and even the next winter, in the spawning-pond, in 

 case the pond be so deep that the suffocation of the 

 young tender fry under the ice in a severe winter 

 is not to be apprehended, for it is by no means ad- 

 vantageous to take them out in the first months of 

 their existence. If however the shallowness of the 

 pond, its cold situation and climate, make it neces- 

 sary to secure the fry against the rigours of the 

 ensuing winter, the water of the pond must be let 

 off ; in which qase the fry and old fish will gradually 

 retire to the canal and ditches, which communicate 

 with the hole in the middle of the pond, and a net, 

 with small meshes, is then employed to catch both 

 the fry and old ones. The old breeders are then 

 separated from the fry, and both kinds put into 

 separate ponds that are warmer, and more con- 

 venient for the wintering these delicate fish. Care 

 must be taken to fix on a calm, mild day, at the 

 latter end of September, for the catching of the fry 

 out of the spawning-pond. The nurseries are the 

 second kind of ponds intended for the bringing up 

 the young fry. The best time to put .them into 

 the nursery is in March or April, on a fine and 



