March 6.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
349 
WEEKLY CALENDAR. 
SI w 
1 
MARCH 6—12, 1851. 
Weather near London in 1850. 
Sun 
Sun 
Moon 
Moon’s 
Clock 
Day of 
Year. 
” O 
Barometer. 
Thermo. 
Wind. 
Rain in In., 
Rises. 
Sets. 
R, & S. 
Age. 
bef. Sun. 
6 Th 
Peacock Butterfly seen. 
30.618 
— 30.280 
55—41 
S.W. 
37 a. 6 
46 a. 5 
9 
24 
3 
11 
35 
65 
7 F 
Dog Violet blooms. 
30.062 
— 29.879 
54—33 
W. 
0.06 
35 
48 
10 
33 
4 
11 
21 
66 
8 S 
Blood Worms in water. 
29.9I8 
— 29.810 
49—23 
N.W. 
0 02 
33 
49 
11 
41 
5 
11 
6 
67 
9 Son 
1 Sunday in Lent. 
29.919 
— 29.917 
43—29 
N.W. 
0.01 
31 
51 
morn. 
6 
10 
51 
68 
10 M 
Crow builds. 
30.432 
—30.276 
43—24 
N. 
— 
28 
53 
0 
50 
3 
10 
36 
69 
11 Tu 
Creeper’8 spring note heard. 
30.424 
— 30.271 
46—36 
W. 
— 
26 
55 
1 
58 
8 
10 
20 
70 
12 W 
Ember Week. Ash flowers. 
'30.164 
— 30.128 
56—13 
W. 
— ' 
24 
58 
3 
2 
9 
10 
4 
71 
Not long since, we had an inquiry from a gardener relative to the pro¬ 
fitable management of fish-ponds, and we must confess, that down to 
the date of that inquiry, we were ignorant that the attendance upon such 
preserves came within the catalogue of a gardener’s duties. However, 
we found that it does, and our next inquiry was for information relative 
to this little-studied, and too-much-neglected department of rural 
economy. It so happened, that we opportunely became acquainted with 
a gentleman—the only one we ever met with—practically acquainted with 
the breeding and fattening of fish in ponds, and he engaged to furnish us 
with a series of essays on the subject. But this exemplified another of 
the many slips between the pen and the press, for our piscatorial friend was 
suddenly included among the departures for Port Natal, and he is, per¬ 
haps, now fishing for snappers off the coast of Africa, instead of writing 
of carps and tench for The Cottage Gardener. We then inquired for 
works of authority upon the subject, and found that a thin volume was 
lately published by M. Boccius, but it offers nothing superior to a much 
older authority, the Rev. Charles Marshall, who, on more accounts 
than one, deserves a notice in our pages. 
In an out-of-the-way district of Northamptonshire, difficult to be 
reached, even in these days of locomotion, stands the village church of 
Brixworth, and within it may be found a marble memorial bearing this 
inscription :— 
This Tablet 
is affectionately dedicated by two surviving friends, 
to the memory of 
the Revd. Charles Marshall, 
who for thirty-eight years filled the office of vicar 
to this parish. 
Diligent, temperate, and peaceful, 
he gained the esteem of his parishioners, 
and after a long period of affliction, 
he sank to the grave, in hope of a joyful 
Resurrection, 
March 12, 1818, aged years. 
This is almost all the information we have gained relative to this estimable 
man, who, like thousands of others of the same profession, work out their 
allotted measure of goo 1, “ diligently, temperately, and peacefully,” die, 
and their remembrance is speedily obliterated. We applied to a North¬ 
amptonshire friend, and the fragments which rewarded his diligence are 
no more than these, picked up from those who remembered “the gar¬ 
dening vicar of Brixworth.” “ He married a relation of Chancellor 
Talbot, through whose interest he obtained the living of Brixworth. Mrs. 
Marshall is described as having been a tall handsome woman, and a 
person of property, but Mr. Marshall, on the contrary, was of diminutive 
person, and a school-master in London. ‘ She saw Othello’s visage in 
his mind.’ No doubt he was a clever man, for he was intimate with Dr. 
Johnson and Boswell : and we may, therefore, infer that he was a fre¬ 
quenter of the best literary circles of the day. When my friend knew 
him, he was a very old man, much afflicted with asthma, but he retained 
a faculty of exquisite penmanship, and was an extremely welcome com¬ 
panion to young persons, on account of his botanical and horticultural 
knowledge. His garden was a model of neatness. He was near-sighted, 
but rarely wore spectacles.” 
The chancellor spoken of above, was, probably, the Rev. William Talbot, 
Chancellor of Sarum, to whom Mr. Marshall dedicated his Plain and easy 
Introduction to the knowledge and practice of Gardening, with hints on 
Fish-ponds. This was first published in 1776. and the third edition dated 
1800, is now before us. It has been republished several times since, and 
its practical directions may be yet followed with confidence and advantage. 
On the present occasion we shall conclude by republishing the Hints on 
the Method of Managing Fish-ponds , and by saying that we shall be 
obliged by information on the subject. 
“ The quantify of fish to be supplied obviously depends upon the quantity 
of water, which should be divided, where it conveniently can, into five 
ponds ; these mav be distinguished by the five first figures, as, 1, 2, 3, 4, 
5. Number 5 is intended for breeding, and should be double or treble 
the size of any of the other ponds. Or if this be inconvenient, there may 
be two marked No. 5. This pond may likewise be the most distant from 
the house. If the breeding pond should fail to answer this purpose, it will 
at least serve as a conservatory for fish of small size, to be obtained else¬ 
where ; and, indeed, fresh stores in any case will be found desirable. The 
contents of this pond in carp and tench, or the greatest part, should be 
taken out annually in September or October, counted in braces ; and such 
as are from five to seven inches long thrown into No. 4. The contents of 
No. 4, when grown one year from the length of five or seven inches, must 
be put into No. 3. The contents of No. 3, having grown one year from 
No. 4, must be removed into No. 2. And in like manner the contents of 
No. 2, after one year, must be removed into No. 1 , which is to contain 
only such fish as are fit for the table. It is obvious that this pond, for 
safety and convenience, should be the nearest to the house. As No. 5 
is to be the largest water, so No. 1 is to be the least; the rest, of sizes 
between the two. The shape of No. 1 should be oblong, for the con- 
I venience of the net, and the less disturbance of the fish in taking out 
what are wanted from time to time. A book should be kept by the gar¬ 
dener, of the number and size of each kind in every pond. Carp are fit 
for the table from three to seven pounds each. Tench from one pound 
and a half to three pounds each. Perch from three quarters of a pound 
to one or two pounds, &c. It is supposed that none of the ponds have a 
| strong current of very cold, acrid, innutritious water. One acre of water 
upon a loam, clay, or marl, or any of these with a mixture of gravel, has 
: been stated to be capable of supporting 2,000 pound weight of fish : the 
j number of the fish making that weight being immaterial. Carp and 
, Tench breed most freely in ponds or pits newly made. Tench likewise 
j in almost any ponds, where cattle are admitted. It is evident that perch 
j and pike should not be admitted in any degree, in No. 5 ; but in all the 
; other numbers ; besides their own value, they are of important service, 
| provided that they are strictly confined to a size greatly subordinate to 
i that of the carp or tench. For they destroy not only the accidental spawn 
j of fish which breed, but also several animals, whose food is the same with 
i that of carp and tench, as frogs, newts, &c. Pike above the weight of one 
or two pounds must, not be admitted, even amongst carp of the largest 
size and weight. With regard to the absolute weight of fish, which any 
particular pond will support, this can only be determined by observation 
and experience ; as it depends on the different degrees of nutrition in 
different waters. It is said, that carp and tench in waters which feed 
well, will, before they are aged, double their weight in one year. The 
third part of an acre in No. 1 would probably be sufficient for the demand 
of any family. For, upon the calculation above given, it would support 
near 700 pounds of fish, which might be divided thus :—50 brace of carp, 
of three pounds each and upwards ; 50 brace of tench, of two pounds each 
and upwards ; 50 brace of perch, of one pound each and upwards. That 
is, three brace of fish, weighing at least twelve pounds, for the use of 
every week. Allowing one acre for No. 5, one-third of an acre for No. 1, 
and one acre and two-thirds for the intervening numbers, the whole water 
would be three acres. Upon this calculation, the stock of No. 1 at 8d. 
per pound, would be worth ^23 l6s. 8d. per annum, and the expence 
annually of changing the fish from No. 5 to 4, &c., will not exceed 
s€\ 6s. 8d. So that the value of each acre would be at lowest £"] 6s. 8d. 
annually. No. 1 being supposed to be near the house, and at no great 
distance from the garden, if the fish should not thrive sufficiently, which 
will be seen by the disproportioned size of the head, and the whiteness or 
paleness of the scales, they may easily be supplied with more food by 
loose peas from the garden, the sweeping of the granary, worms saved by 
the gardener in digging, and the offal of the poultry killed for the kitchen ; 
or by letting down the water about two ieet, in the spring or summer, 
where there is a sufficient supply, and sowing the sides with oats, barley, 
rye, or wheat, very lightly raked in, and then stopping the sluice again. 
In ponds already stocked, but not accurately regulated, it would be ad¬ 
visable to begin with that which has the most pike, otherwise with No. 4, 
or what is intended for No. 4, and throw all the fish under five inches in 
length, into No. 5, and the larger, according to their sizes, into the other 
numbers : and so on with No. 3, 2, and 1. Store fish procured elsewhere, 
if taken in summer, should be moved in the night in clean straw, wetted 
occasionally after they are packed : except perch and pike, which can only 
be carried in clean pond or river water. In moving fish from one pond 
to another, they should be first put into tubs of water already prepared 
for them, and afterwards carried in buckets without water. In taking 
pike or perch, great care must be observed to avoid raising mud in the 
water. In hreeding ponds, all water-fowls, as geese, ducks, &c., should 
be discouraged; and herons carefully destroyed. If any white fish, as 
j roach, dace, &c., should be found, they are to be taken out; and if there 
j be a spare piece of water for large pike, they should be put into it as food 
for the pike. Eels may be put with advantage into any except the breed- 
j ing ponds, in lieu of perch. The most easy way of taking them is by | 
j trimmers laid over night, baited with small fish, not with worms: other- j 
| wise they may catch the carp ; or a small thief net may be baited with j 
j white fish. Common sewers and drains from the laundry are prejudicial j 
| to fish ; so are the leaves falling from trees in great quantities. The use 
i of grains should likewise be avoided in large quantities, as having little j 
; nutriment whilst they are thus washed by the water. It seems better for j 
the use of the table, as well as more humane, to kill fish designed for j 
food, by an incision with a sharp-pointed pen-knife, or punctures made 
with a pin longitudinally iato the brain, about half an inch or an inch, 
according to the size of the fish, above the eyes. As this produces an in¬ 
stantaneous effect, it would probably save the cruel operation of crimping 
or flaying fish while alive ; as in the case of pike or eels. It is obvious, 
that this method of regulating fish will apply with its full effect in larger 
spaces of water; it will likewise apply in a considerable degree to smaller 
pieces : even where the change is but from a pond for the use of cattle, to 
a single canal in a garden.” 
Meteorology ofthe Week. —At Chiswick, from observations during 
the last 24 years, the average highest and lowest temperatures of these 
days are 50° and 33°, respectively. The greatest heat, 68°, was on the 
9th, in 1826, and the lowest cold, 7°, on the 10th, in 1847- Rain fell on 
65 days, and 103 were fine. 
No. CXXVIT., Vol. V. 
