396 
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AMEKICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
TROPICAL 
[COPYRIGHT SECURED,] 
F I S H E S. — Drawn and engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
of the soil, and the character and advancement 
of the crop. " Once a week " is not enough. 
The idea of plowing simply to kill weeds is 
ridiculous! "We seek, in the frequent stirring 
of the ground, a mellow soil, with open mouths 
or pores, eagerly taking from the atmosphere 
an abundance of plant food. Some plants, the 
melon for example, take more from the air than 
from the soil; or rather the soil, in a proper 
condition, takes from the atmosphere much of 
the food which it gives to the plant. If we 
have weeds, we must, of course, fight them to 
the death ; but it is a shame to have weeds, and 
a double shame to sit at our ease and wait for 
the weeds to grow ! In order to practice thor- 
ough cultivation wo must have straight rows, 
and rows botk ways, and level culture. These 
points are all important, and none more so 
than level culture, especially on hill-sides, where 
it has a tendency to prevent severe washing, 
which is a great evil, as all know who have 
farms on the hill-side. Good culture implies, 
on our soil, a moderately deep stirring of the 
soil, so long as the roots of plants are not dis- 
turbed by the operation ; and deep culture im- 
plies horse-power, and this suggests the check- 
row system, of which we have spoken. The 
one-horse plows and cultivators must be kept 
in constant motion in the growing crops. There 
is work, also, for the hand-hoes and various kinds 
of weeders, in this system of thorough doing. 
Tropical Fishes. 
Those who are familiar with only the salt 
and fresh-water fishes of the northern climates, 
have but little idea of the strange shapes and 
brilliant colors of those inhabiting tropical wa- 
ters. When Baruum's Museum was in its glory 
it contained a splendid collection of fishes from 
Bermuda. "We heard a lady exclaim on seeing 
one of the Augel fishes, " Oh ! tha„ is a Bird of 
Paradise in the water." The grou;: presented 
in the engraving are fishes of Ceylon and other 
parts of the East, and belong to the family of 
Cluetodons, which means fishes with hair-like 
teeth. They have peculiar muzzle-like mouths, 
very large scales, and singularly-shaped fins, 
which characters, taken together with their bril- 
liant colors and strange markings, make them 
very noticeable. The fish represented on the 
lower right-hand side of the engraving is the 
"Wandering Chastodon, which has a golden yel- 
low body, marked with purplish brown lines. 
The one at the lower left-hand side is the Long- 
sp'med Chffitodon, or Charioteer. The singular 
prolongation of one of the spines of the back 
fin, as well as its unusual outline and well-de- 
fined markings, make this a most remarkable 
fish. U-pon the upper left-hand side we have 
the Bat Chfetodon, distinguished by a very 
much compressed body with an enormous de- 
velopment of fins. Its color is yellow, mottled 
with dark brown. Opposite to the last and near 
the surface, is the most singular of all, the 
Beaked Chretodon, odd-looking enough from 
the marks upon its body, but still more odd 
from the way in which it takes its prey. It uses 
its beak as a blow-gnn, and when an insect is 
seen within reach, it suddeuly shoots a drop of 
water at the unsuspecting " bug," which falls 
into the water, an easy prey to the fish. The 
Japanese are said to keep these fishes as pets, 
and find great amusement in seeing them shoot 
their game. The artist has introduced some 
corals aud sea-anemones into the picture, 
about which we may say more at another time. 
