San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1883-08-09
Fish Culture.
ny Seth dreen. in Home and Farm,

ce n;sct / shall endeavor to make as
s ,Issr as possible.
ele lear - German carp thrives best in
Ia IL which contain no other kind of
PCh" INIT il is my opinion that the cat
nsh' or bullheads would be least inlu-
nsn ISL 10 them of any other variety of
r no. The catfish does not pursue its
ns snr as do many other kind, nor does
Pi l19osses the advantage of the sucker
as if;lv for devouring the spawn. I do
=, mean to be understood that the
NV Stssb or bullhead would not take a
e ea"nc carp OF eat the spawn if he were
angry I and it came in his way, but 1
aGr they would do less damage than
s ur other kind, as it is their nature
~ HINT their food by scent or the aid
II their smelling powers.
r. ;s said that the best bait for carp
:. dough balls made of flour and water,
eth cotton mixed in, which renders it
enable of being placed on the hook
Sjyantageously without coming off the
hook. They are said to feed on vege-
tabIes. cooked and soaked corn, also
Sread crumbs-anything they will eat
should be good bait to catch them
With. If they are accustomed to being
fed I should fish for them with the
same food 1 had been feeding them on.
T. does not make any particular differ
ence how near pond is to the house,
onlv for personal comfort,in mosquito
time, as good carp pond will breed
large quantities Of insects, and a good
share Of them are liable to be mosqui-
toes. All kinds of insects are good
carp food. A simple way to make q
pond is with pillow and scraper. 1t
should have a deep place in the cen
Ter and very shallow on the sides, if
the sides are square, the young fish
would have no protection against
the old ones, for an old carp has no
conscientious scruples against taking
in one of their progeny. When you
commence scraping take the earth as
far back as you intend making
the lower outside of the embankment.
Keep scraping till the pond is from
four to six feet deep in the center. If
the pond is in locality where the ice
freezes thick, it should be deeper, and
holes should be kept open through the
ice during the winter to keep the fish
from smothering. II the embankment
is nicely rounded and pounded down,
and is sodded or sown to grass, the
water can be raised so that you will
not have to c. but three feet to get
six feet of water. The whole pond
should be seeded to some kind of grass
or water plant, except space Of
fifty to seventy five feet in the center.
The grass or water plants make the
spawning ground, breed food and pro-
tect the young; if the grass gets too
thick it can he raked out. The United
States Fish commissioner. Professor s..
F. Baird of Washington, D. O., l be-
lieve furnishes carp to all APPLICANTS in
season.
I have had great many arguments
in regard to fish and their hearing,
and from careful observation and nu-
merous experiments tried, L claim that
they have no ears and cannot hear.
Many writer's about fish tell us to
avoid all noises around their ponds,
lest they frighten the fish, and to be
particularly careful never to fire gun
on the grounds, lest the delicate ear OF
the fish be too much affected. Fish
can not hear the sound of bell nor
even whistle, neither will they stir a
fraction of an inch at the sound OF a
gun fired one foot'above their heads but
the sight of most fish, especially the
trout family,is very keen. His enemies
are to be avoided by the aid of his eyes,
and they will start and run at every
sudden motion, whether it is the shad-
ow of the angler, OF the falling OF q
leaf upon the water. They are also
startled by conclusion by blow upon
the water, or q heavy step on the
ground; but will mind no noise that IS
not accompanied by some demonstra-
ton that he can either see or feel. The
angler may talk as loudly as he pleases,
but he must approach the bank OF the
ut-brook on tip-toe and hide be-
hind bush or tree. Fish are undoubt-
ly brought to the shore at the time
they are accustomed to being fed, by
the ringing of bell, but it is the mo-
ton, not the sound, that attracts them.
If the attendant will stand out OF sight
of the fish, he may ring a long time be-
lore they put in an appearance.
While trout fishing, 1 used frequent
ly to place my gun in the boat for the
ST killing king-fishers should
any happen near, and I have shot
them in an opposite direction from
where I was fishing, and took up my
my rod and caught them the next cast
disturbing them in the least
but if 1 Glanced to fire in the dlrec-
ton L was fishing so the fish saw the
fash, my fishing would be interrupted
until the fish got over their fright. d
very pretty illustration Of fish not
is to beat tin pan under your
where the fish can not see
IL -. II a1,r- ill mt SIR. Duf