188 
RAMBOUILLET MERINOS. 
be well not to hide them from the view of the 
house, as sheets of water seen alternately when 
approaching a residence have a very elegant ap¬ 
pearance. Their extent depends of course upon 
the quantity of fish proposed to he raised. If there 
is only one pond, it should not be of less extent 
than five or six acres ; four times this area may be 
desirable, especially in marshy or wet soils, which 
often cannot be more advantageously employed; 
but it is better to construct a series of ponds, the 
first of three acres, the next four acres, and the 
largest five acres. For ornamental fish-ponds, as 
many as five should be formed, situated between 
two rising grounds and separated by embankments ; 
three, however, is the usual number; the first of 
which should be slightly elevated, and so situated 
that it may receive the drainings of a village; or at 
any rate it should be near a farm, as all the refuse 
washings from such places supply food. The 
ponds should be separated by a distance of at least 
one hundred yards; more, if possible, as each can 
then have the refuse washings of the neighbor¬ 
hood. The ponds should be connected by water 
courses, protected by flood-gates of sufficient depth 
and descent to allow the whole of the water to pass 
off readily. If the supply of water is even and 
well regulated, the depth of each pond at the centre 
may vary from three to five feet; if the supply is 
not regular, the depth may be greater by about a 
foot. The sudden introduction of large quantities 
of fresh water is to be avoided, because its tempe¬ 
rature is generally below that of the pond, and it 
also stirs up the mud. The sides of the pond 
should shelve gradually for about six yards; this 
will encourage the growth of grass, in which a 
variety of insects, &c., will harbor and supply food 
to the fish. Another advantage of shelving sides 
is that if the shallows are protected by stakes, the 
pond is not so easily poached. A third advantage 
is the protection it offers to the brood, as will be 
noticed hereafter. About the sluice or flood-gate 
the water must be deeper for the reception of the 
fish when the pond is emptied for cleaning, &c. A 
sheet of water may sometimes be divided into two 
by a middle embankment to be raised about two 
feet below the general surface of the water when 
the pond is full, so as to allow a boat to pass over 
it: thus one-half can be emptied at a time, and the 
fish transferred from one to the other at the time of 
cleaning. 
Where there is only one pond it may be desira¬ 
ble to have several kinds of fish in it. Artificial 
bottoms must then be made, as different species of 
fish prefer different bottoms. Trout must have a 
gravelly bottom, and will not thrive without one; 
carp and tench are not so dependent on the nature 
of the soil, and are fond of weeds. Clay soils are 
not good, as they furnish no nutriment for the 
larvae of insects, worms, &c., and consequently no 
food for the fish. Izaak Walton says: “ It is ob¬ 
served that the best ponds to breed carps are those 
that be stony or sandy, and are warm and free from 
wind, and that are not deep, but have willow trees 
and grass on their sides, over which the water does 
sometimes flow and again, “ such pools as be 
large and have most gravel, and shallows where 
fish may sport themselves, do afford fish of the 
finest tasted and note that in all pools it is best for 
fish to have some retiring place; as namely, hol¬ 
low banks or shelves or roots of trees, to keep 
them from danger, and when they think fit, from 
the extreme heat of summer as also from the ex¬ 
tremity of cold in winter. And note that if many 
trees be growing about your pond, the leaves 
thereof falling into the water, make it nauseous to 
the fish, and the fish to be so to the eater of it.” 
New York , May 12th, 1846. D’Jay Browne. 
RAMBOUILLET MERINOS. 
Under this head, the article which we copy 
below, recently appeared in the Vermont Chronicle. 
Mr. D. C. Collins, the importer of these sheep, 
happening to be in town when we received the 
paper, we immediately called his attention to it. 
We subjoin his reply. It was written instantly 
after reading the said article, without the slightest 
premeditation, and in great haste, which will ac¬ 
count for any little imperfections of style. We 
think that W. J., and all reasonable men, will be 
perfectly satisfied now, if they were not before, 
with the “ unquestionable proof” here given, of the 
purity of blood of the sheep imported by Mr. Col¬ 
lins, from the Rambouillet flock. To those who 
know Mr. Collins, his word is quite sufficient, 
without giving any other proof, as he abundantiy 
has here, to verify his assertions. 
As to the “ unmeasured language” in which 
these sheep were spoken of by us in the Agricul¬ 
turist, about three years since, we can only say, 
that every word of it is tjue ; and if W. J., or any 
candid person will give themselves the trouble to 
visit the flock now with Mr. Bingham, they will 
find it so. We have seen hundreds of the early 
importations of Merinos from Spain, and have been 
familiar with sheep and wool and its manufacture 
for upwards of thirty years, and we profess to 
know something of these matters; we knew also 
when we wrote, that what we should say respect¬ 
ing the Rambouillets would excite the envy and 
jealousy of some flock-masters in this country, and 
we were particularly careful at the time to tell even 
less than the truth warranted us in saying in their 
behalf. 
“ Messrs. Bishop and Tracy: —There appeared 
in your paper of the 18th inst., an article under the 
Agricultural head, said to be extracted from the 
American Agriculturist, communicated by a second 
person, and apparently vouched for by a third, 
obviously written in praise of a flock of sheep for¬ 
merly owned by Mr. Collins, near Hartford, in 
Connecticut, and stated to be since sold 'to a Mr. 
Bingham, of Williston, Vermont, purporting to be 
from the Rambouillet flock in France. 
“ Some two or three years since I saw an article 
praising these sheep in unmeasured language, I 
think in the Agriculturist, published in the city of 
New York ; and from the high terms in which they 
were recommended, I was induced to make some 
inquiries of one or two gentlemen residing in 
Hartford, respecting them; but to my surprise I 
learned that they knew little or nothing about 
them. I have since inquired of several well in¬ 
formed men connected with the wool-growing busi¬ 
ness, but with no better success. They had seen 
