THE LADIES 1 MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
115 
probably still existing, as they then showed no signs of old age. They 
were indeed particularly active, though larger than usual, and of the 
most vivid colours. It was, however, remarkable that they were all of 
nearly the same size; and this is generally the case with all gold fish 
kept in clear water, as they never breed in such situations. It has also 
been remarked, that gold fish kept in glass seldom increase in size, par¬ 
ticularly if the vase or globe in which they are kept be small. A curious 
experiment to ascertain the truth of this remark was tried some years ago 
in Paris. Two or three fishes a year old, which measured two inches 
long, were put into a glass globe exactly one foot in diameter. The 
water was changed every second day in summer, and every week in 
winter, as is usually done with gold fish kept in glass vessels, and they 
were occasionally fed with crumbs of bread; but in eleven years they 
had not increased one line in length. They were then taken out of the 
globe, and thrown into a pond in the garden, where there were no other 
gold fish ; and when this pond was drained at the end of ten months, 
the gold fish were found to have increased in length, one about four inches, 
and the other nearly five. 
It has been before remarked, that gold fish never breed in clear water; 
and it has been observed that when they do breed, the young conceal 
themselves among the roots of plants, in inequalities of banks, or among 
the faggots which may have been put in for them. A lady who 
happened to pull up an aquatic plant which had grown on the bank of a 
pond in which there were some gold fish, was quite astonished to find the 
roots appear alive; and on examining them, she discovered the movement 
to be occasioned by a great number of little dark-brown fishes which 
were sticking to the roots. These little fishes were the fry of the gold 
carp, which are taught by instinct to conceal themselves from the old 
fish till the golden hue begins to appear on their sides, which it does 
when they are about an inch long. It is said that the gold carp devour 
^the fry of other fish, and also their own, if they see them before the 
golden blotches appear. 
When it is wished to breed gold fish in clear water in a tank or 
basin, a few faggots should be thrown into the water; or a sloping bank 
of gravel should be raised in the tank, the upper part of which is near 
the surface of the water. This will afford at once a situation for the old 
* 
fish to deposit their spawn, and a shelter for the young fry. Some 
persons, when the spawn has been deposited on a faggot, remove the wood 
to another tank to rear the young; but they always do better, and grow 
faster, when bred in a pond with an earthy bottom, and in which plants 
grow naturally. 
