23 
carp in a cold spring and they have not grown 
one eighth of an inch yet, while their brothers 
and sisters are two inches long in my warm 
pond. The carp must have warm water to grow 
and thrive well. I have one of the finest, carp 
ponds in Lehigh Co., and I will try and show 
the people next fall what a wonderful fish the 
carp is. I hope the readers of the Farmer will 
not get scared when I tell them next fall that 
my six month old carp are seven inches long 
and weigh one pound. If God spares my life a 
while yet I will construct a large and deep pond 
where I will fatten my carp for the market. In 
th e second summer I can make them grow so 
fast on corn meal and lettuce that they will 
weigh over three pounds a piece.” 
A southern farmer who has been raising carp 
in ponds supplied with surface water makes the • 
following suggestions about constructing ponds: 
“A dam is thrown across the lower end of 
a hollow; the dams are made entirely of soil or 
earth; this is the best material to make a dam 
of, and is also the cheapest. The sides of the 
dam should have a slope of at least 45 degrees. 
I do not use any stone or wood (except to over¬ 
flow or drain; on this kind of a pond. I try to 
have no stones or pieces of wood lying around 
near the ponds, for these are only places of 
shelter for some of the enemies to the fish, and 
an inducement for snakes, crawfish, etc., to 
harbor near the ponds. The deepest part of the 
pond should be at least eight feet: then it should 
run out shallow on the sides all around, or as 
much so as possible. It is better to have the 
shallow places in the pond on the north and 
west sides; here the sun will strike the water 
early in the day, and if shallow will warm it 
up quicker. The carp will always be fonnd in 
the patt of the pond where it is the warmest’ 
here they find most of their nourishment, and it 
is in the warm shallow places where most nour¬ 
ishment is produced, such as insects, etc. Toward 
the cool part of the day and evening, the carp 
retire to the deeper parts of the pond (where it is 
then the warmest), and so do the insects that 
were hatched or bred during the day. There 
should be no gravel or stone in the deepest part 
of the pond. Spade up well the bottom of a new 
pond before the water is let in. Have as much 
surface water flow into the pond as possible; 
more nourishment is in this than in spring 
water, especially when it flows from pastures. 
There should be a ditch around a carp pond, so 
that the water that comes from the melting of 
snow can be run off, as too much snow water let 
into a carp pond will sicken and often destroy 
the fish. During winter one or more large 
bundles of rye straw, should be placed upright 
in the water in this kind of a pond. This will 
leave air-holes in the ice, and then it is not 
necessary to chop holes in the ice when the 
pond is frozen over.” 
. 
ORIGIN OF THE TOMATO. 
A good many years ago a scamp who had 
arrived from the Bermuda Islands, was sent to 
the York county, Pennsylvania jail, for some 
oflense committed against the laws of the Com¬ 
monwealth. He had with him a few seeds which 
he planted in the rich soil of the jail yard. 
Before the plants which sprang from the seed 
matured he was discharged, and no one knew 
the name of them. They grew luxuriantly, 
bearing fruit of a large size and unusual ap¬ 
pearance. As this strange fruit ripened, its 
color changed from green to a brilliant red, and 
became an object of wonder and admiration to 
all the inmates of the jail. Mrs. Klinefelter, 
the lady keeper, cautioned all the prisoners 
against eating any of the fruit, as she was sure 
it was poisonous, and besides that, she had 
promised the man who had planted the seed 
that she would endeavor to preserve specimens 
of it for him should he return in time. Just 
when the fruit was fully matured the Bermuda 
prisoner re-visited the jail and asked to see the 
plant. The request granted, he next called for 
pepper, salt and vinegar, and to the horror of 
the good lady commenced to eat of the supposed 
poisonous fruit with a relish that astonished the 
beholders. After enjoying the strange repast, 
he informed Mrs. Klinefelter that the fruit or 
vegetable was the tomato, or love apple, and it 
would be found wholesome and nutritious. The 
seed of the remaining tomatoes were carefully 
preserved and distributed among the friends and 
neighbors of the lady, and thus this now pop¬ 
ular esculent was introduced into the ancient 
and goodly borough of York. For many years 
thereafter it was cultivated as an ornament 
rather than for table use, but by degrees its mer¬ 
its began to be more fully understood and ap¬ 
preciated, and there as elsewhere, it grew into 
general public favor.—[American Grocer. 
One of the boys tells of a scarecrow 
made by Uncle Ben. It not only scared 
off every crow that saw it, but one crow 
was so frightened that he brought back the 
corn he had stolen three days before. 
