Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-12-08
Fish Ponds.

The making and maintenance of fsh-ponds is one of the arts in which nisn-at least until within dozen years past-has not advanced. It was better and more extensively cultiva- ted in antiquity and the middle ages than now. And there is still no bet fer authority on the subject than Bishop Dubravius, of Olmutz, of the sixteenth century. He advised a reg
 ular draining of ponds, and cropping them with vegetables and grain in al ternation with the fish. He would have three ponds, with three years rotation of vegetable crops, grown and breeding fish, and fry, so that the pro pnetor always has 8 crop of vegeta- bles growing in one pond, yearling fry ;n another pond, and breeders with the fish fattening for the market in the third. Captain Milton P. Pierce, of the American Carp Cultural Asso- ciation, recommends draining the ponds every spring as early as the we,ther will permit, to promote the g wth of aquatic vegetation, and an othAr draining in October for the pur- pose Of asserting the carp. He uses thrae ponds all at the same time for fish, but does not advocate the rota. tion and planting system of Dubra- yius. Opinions differ as to the ex- pediency of allowing trees to grow along the margins of tish-ponds They harbor insects and so contribute to the supply of food, but their falling leaves are litter and make the water un- pleasant. Frank Buckland recom- mended the hanging of dead cat or rabbit over the pond, to be nursery for gentles"-plainly aggots-which woGld fall into the pond and afford excellent food for the fish. The pres enee of ducks is of great advantage, for they dig up the mud in the bot tom, exposing the organic life it con tails, and also increase the insect breeding capacity of the mud-all helping to furnish the fishes dinner l tales. A similar effect follows allow ing cattle to come and stand in the | ponds. The ponds should not be too deep, and large ponds have several drawbacks which are absent from small ones. There are advantages and disadvantages about having a stream run through the pond; hence it may be well to arrange so that the stream cnD be turned on or carried around at will. A "collector"-a wooden box, four feet deep by five square, sunk flush with the pond, with perforated inner box that can be drawn up-is a convenient appendage. When the pond sluice is opened, the fish will go into the deepest water, which is in this collector, whence they can be drawn out and sorted. The collectors also may supply the place of the deeI retiring holes which fish are fond ot resorting to. Some breeders furnish a hedge in the ponds as a shelter. A fattening tank affords convenient means of securing constant supply of nsh ready for the table and easy tC be caught. To supply food for tho fish, Herr FruWirth, of Austria, ha' peats and ditches with stagnant w,fte! and aquatic plants, wherein all kindi of insects etc, breed, which he turns into the ponds from time to time. Dr kelsen, of Oxford, has discovered tha
 the animalcula bred in water con
 taining decayed vegetable matter art eagerly devoured by the young fry Captain Milton Pierce says that nur sery ponds in good condition and pro vision will support from one thousand to fifteen hundred yearling carp pc acre area of water. Stock ponds, il like condition, will support five hund
 red two-year-old carp per acre. Large stocks should not be permitted. Only one kind of fish should be allowed il the pond at time. Where there ar, manyTarieties, they come to ittl
 good, and eat one another up.-Science