SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR. 
n 
Ur. — Let it be a running stream. If the waters in the 
pond become stagnant the flavor of the flsh will be sensi- 
bly affected, and a miasma might be produced injurious 
to the health of the neighborhood. We were, however, 
informed by persons owning saw mills on the many head 
waters of the Edisto river that the health of their several 
neighborhoods was not affected by their mill ponds, and 
we have had personal experience of the health of the in- 
habitants of Graniteville and Vaucluse, who reside in the 
vdcinity of the mill ponds, accessary to the factories. 
Clearwater and running streams are seldom, if ever, pro- 
ductive of fevers, this, however, being not an unimportant 
matter, we must leave to the judgment of Planters and of 
their Physicians. A small stream will answer the pur- 
pose of a fish pond ; a large one causes many species of 
fishes to tlirive better, but it requires an additional pre- 
caution in building a solid dam not subject to be broken 
by heavy floods. The ponds may consist of from I to 5 
or 6 acres. Large waters afford most nourishment. We 
have, however, seen a pond at Woodstock, 16 miles from 
Charleston, and another at Col. Bull’s, in St. Andrews 
Parish, neither of them appeared to cover more than a 
quarter of an acre, which contained very fine Trout, 
Bream and other fish that received no artificial feeding in 
either place. 
2. The materials of and mode of constructing the dams, 
and the plants for the protection of the eggs a'nd fry. — The 
experience of our Southern planters and farmers will be 
their best guides under the first head. We would suggest 
that a solid trunk of eight or ten inches in diameter be 
placed near the bottom of the dams to drain off” the 
water at intervals of two or three years, to enable the pro- 
prietor to select the fishes best adapted to the pond, to 
clear out superfluous ones and to apply the sediment of 
the pond to agricultural purposes. Let this be done in 
winter when the spawning process will not be aff'ected. 
Let the sluice-way above be very wide and solidly built 
and let the surrounding dam be two or three feet higher 
than the sluice-way, so that it will not be injured by 
freshets. We presume that nine-tenths of the larger fishes 
in reservoirs and mill dams escape over the dams during 
freshets. This may be easily ascertained by examining 
the streams and canals below after the flood has subsided. 
We would advise that the pond be divided into two or 
three departments, for reasons v/hich we will show pre- 
sently, and that the different dams be constructed on the 
same plan. Let the gate-way above, through which the 
water is constantly passing, be carefully constructed with 
wires, three to the inch, which will retain the fishes 
whilst the waters are escaping. The dams should be 
broad at the base, with a surface of at least six feet, slight- 
ly rounded so as to throw the rain in the pond. No trees 
or shrubs should be planted on them. The dam should 
be swarded over with some binding of grasses, we give 
the preference to the seedless variety of the Bermuda grass. 
We leave the ornamenting of the pond to the taste and 
the pecuniary resources of individuals ; our observations 
are intended to be restricted to that which is practical and 
profitable. Whilst the lower parts of the pbnds should be 
preserved as an open sheet of water, the sides and upper 
parts should be planted with various broad-leaved float- 
ing plants, interspersed with water grasses. In the deep- 
est parts, the large Yellow Pond Lilly {Cyavins luteus) 
should be planted, or the fresh gathered seeds be thrown 
in the water; where it is shallower, the White Pond 
Lilly (Nymphea odorata)-, the Wampee {Pontederia cor- 
datay, either of the species of the Arrow-head {Sagit- 
iaraf These and other broad-leaved water plants that 
might be named would not only be ornamental, but be 
essential to the preservation of the eggs of some species of 
fishes that deposit them, not in beds, but on the stalks of 
plants and grasses, and here, also, the young will be pro- 
tected against larger fishes, since all of them, even the 
Perches, will devour the the young fry. The land on the 
sides of the ponds .should be planted with shade trees and 
seeded down with gras* seeds to preserve them from 
being filled with earth during freshets, and attract vari- 
ous insects to serve as food for the fish. 
3. Native fishes that coidd be successfully and ]rrofital}Uf 
introduced into the fish pond — valnoMe species Lkai might 
! be imported — those that should be rejected. 
! We recommend tliat a few species only and those of 
the choicest kinds be introduced into the upper pond (in 
I case tliere should be only two divisions). These should 
consist of: 1. The Copper Nose or Blue Bream 
incisor)-, the Red-Bellied Perch {Pomotis rnbricauda)'., 
the Goggle Eye (Pomotis hexacanthus) ; the White Perch 
(Labraz americanus)-, the common Perch or Sun-Fish 
(Promotis vulgaris)-, the Moumouth (Cenirarchusguiosus); 
the Yellow Perch (Perea favescens), and the Carp and 
Tench, if they can be obtained. The White Perch is a 
fine pan fish. Professor Holbrook informs us that he 
received it from Georgetown, through the agency of Dr, 
Sparkman and from Dr. Chevbs from St. Mathew’s Par- 
ish. Although we were unsuccessful in our attempts at 
rearing it in a Northern pond, this is no positive evidence 
that it will not succeed with us. The Yellow Perch was 
the most valuable of all those with which our pond at 
the North was stocked. It is easily transported, being 
very tenacious of life. The late Dr. Mitchel, of New 
York, has stated in his writings that he transported it in 
an open wagon for 40 miles without once changing the 
water, and that, by this means, several ponds in New 
York were stocked with this species. It is found in the 
ponds in some parts of the interior of Carolina and was 
sent from St. Mathew’s Parish, It is mere carnivorous 
than the other species of Perch — all of them, however, 
having that propensity, although in a lesser degree. 
The foreign fishes we would recommend as of sufficient 
value to be imported are the common Carp and the 
Tench. The Carp is supposed to have been originally 
received in Spain from China. It found its way through 
Germany into England in 1496, and is bred in ponds. It 
thrives best in still waters and on soft, marly or muddy 
bottoms. It is not carnivorous in its habits, having no 
teeth in the jaws, but only in the pharynx. Carps are fed 
and fattened like pigs. They have been known to weigh 
191.^ pounds, but are said to be best flavored at about 8 
pounds. They are very prolific, breeding much more 
freely in ponds than in rivers. Black found six hundred 
thousand ova in the roe of a female of 9 pounds weight, 
and Schneider found seven hundred thousand in a fish of 
ten pounds weight. The climates of Scotland and Russia 
are too cold for the Carp, but it flourishes well in Eng- 
land and still better in the soutli of Europe. The Tench 
is another of these useful fresh water fishes selected in 
Europe as stock for ornamental waters. It is valued for 
the goodness of its flesh, and the ease in which it can be 
preserved and fattened. It weighs from 10 to 15 pounds* 
It is very prolific. Black found three hundred thousand 
ova in a fish of 4 pounds weight. The Carp has, accord- 
ing to Dr. DeKay, been imported from France by Henry 
Robinson, Esq., and exists in his pond in the vicinity of 
Newburg, N, Y., from whence it was carried to the Hud- 
son River, where it is now occasionally caught. We 
have no doubt that either of these species, so very tenaci- 
ous of life, could be imported into our Southern States in 
any of our steamers, either from Europe or New York, 
without requiring many changes of water on the passage. 
It has been proved that the Tench is able to breathe when 
the quantity of oxygen is reduced to the five thousandth 
part of the bulk of the water. A single pair of each of 
these fine domesticated species would, in a few years, be 
able to stock all the fish ponds and rivers of the Southern 
