The Press., 1883-12-27
(Scientifc American.) . s.RIsR -GgLTURG FOE PR0FlTs''

- y In our paper of September we printed
 a communication headed Fish Ponds for
 Farms" and we wish to add to it here some items winch we hope may make 1t of
 more direct and immediate value, as bring ing it within the range of more speedy re- turns for the money and labor invested We have selected the title above given, be- caus. any one can turn the Bulletin of the United States fish commission, for 1881, page 382, and see that we are not talking at random. ssFlsh Culture for Profit ie
 discussed there by authority.
 We have long had the belief that the
 worthless swamp lands, found along 50
 many of the brooks and streams, through
 out he country, might be made. by means of an outlay which would be almost nom-
 inal, to pay 8 more certain and greater re-
 turn annually, than any parts of the same
 farms devsted to corn, grsin, or hay count ing acre for acre, so that MT. Hiester's ar l t cle iii tLe Bulletin interested us greatly, aid our correspond mt of September gives us occasion for calling the subject up here. . The fish to which so much attention has 1 bern given of late years for pond growti, 1 we must set aside, every one of them.
 Trout have had lhe greatest name of all, l but in the waters which We propose tC
 ut. lize they will never thrive, in fact cal SC rcely be made to live at all Tn, y
 must have either & running stream or 8 pond which is fed with clear cold water. 1 They bring, It is true, fine price. but ! they are very d licate, subject to man,
 cissitud.s, and they require constant
 care, and much attention to their supply of food.
 1 Black bass, yellow perch, and picker.
 have all been used for stocking ponds, aud ! with more or less of success, but they are 1 all such voraci ous hrutes that they speed- ] fly cl. ar the water of every living thing
 that eau swim, including even their own young. aud the consequence is that only g
 very limited supply can be secured from
 given amount of space. Their remark ably healthy app tites ruin them for profit. German carp have been SOW extensively 1 introduced, ,and their value is beyond ques- 1 ton very great. We have nothing to say
 against them, and they will doubtless re.
 ain strong hold on popular favor, fol
 they deserve it. But We have that which
 is decidedly to be preferred, when we are
 looking for profit. The carp grow tn 8
 line size, a,d it is grand sight to watch
 them cruising about on warm summers
 day, in pond-great fellows, six, eight, 1 ten pounds and more, close to the surface, lorsal fin perhaps out of water. No. w l have no charge against the carp, and we are almost asham d and afraid to bring up our little protege in comparison. But chen it is the dollars for which we are looking, and we propose to show how g swamp meadow can turn out more meney 0 the acre from bull he0ds than the same
 pace will r.adily pay ID any other man.
 ner, wet or dry.
 The fish to which we refer is the Anss1- rus nebulosus, and is called bull head, horned pout, aud, ill some parts of New England, minister. It Is catfish. There
 are many American specles of catfish, bus t is l. the otly one common in the regions ol New York and New England and it ia 4 fact worthy of note that though w.. have lHe or ten species of Ansiurus, the oniy vpe of the genus which is found beyond le limits If North America is more close ali. to tt.e aebul0sus than any one i;i UT own watt IS it IS the 4. cantOnesasis, native "f China.
 The horned pout is new. a large fish,
 n.e weighing pould being much over
 the average, aud in raising them for tte
 mat k. t they will afford the greatest profit
 when pot exceeding half pouEd Tie advantages which they afford over the oth- er fish mentioned, for remunerative culti-
 vation, are that they are perfectly hardy, Ut liable to diseas :, thrive to the best ad-
 va age Ill sluggish a-d warm wa CTS, ne d
 care or feeding, live on aquatic plants a d insects, 8 d cal thus secure abuuda..t
 d from small space, multiply rap. dly, t. d are seady for marxet 1t the age of z year, whic:, is much earlier than any oth- sr fish.
 The demand for them, small pan fish without bones, is almost Unlimited and the pc ce good. MT. Hies CT quotes them as selli,g by the ton at ten cents pound.
 lis estimate IS tha trh feet square If pond
 trea will yield aanuslly over ten pounds of
 lsh. Ca these data, an ,.cre will retur.s
 s42O dollars at the l. rast. This seems too
 great for belief, and yet he assures us that It is done half or even quarter of it
 ,ould satisfy most lad owuers, especially
 ts tn. la.id needed and taken for this pur- -,ose is hat part of the farm which for 1thr r us s Is without value.
 The preparation of the pond involves very small expense, for it Is best that the water should be shallow, not over four or iiv.. feet deep. Iu most csses spnt call ne se1 cted where dam of but f. W rods IL length across oiIe of our swamp streams
 Il be suffc en. to overflow from one to two acres to the depth required. The only expense beyond building the dam is to so
 ar smooth the bottom that net eau be dragged ovel 1t. The removal of brushes , d rocas ald perhaps little work with blow aud scraper, will do this, aud th, DO. d is read, for stocking. It is easy to procure tn. ca, fish ill most localities, a,d nothing fur, her is rrqured. Thas acre of swamp land was before this worth pra4.ti- cally nothing; it might perhaps yield nominal amount of pasturage. It lis best to leave it two years, SO as to allow the fish to increase and grow. After that time they can be taken out at convenience. A net should be used winch allows the small oues to pass through. None under five inches (preferably six) should be caught, a4d it is wise always to retain ill the pond a good proportion of full grown fish, for the sake If more rapid i crease in num- bers. The fish can readily be taken at such times as to scarcely interfere at all with the labor of the farm. They can b. s. nt to market as they are caught, or they can be skinned and packed in boxes ready for use. according to what the sale de-.