【国外英文文学】Amateur Fish Culture.doc

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1、【国外英文文学】Amateur Fish CultureTitle: Amateur Fish CultureAuthor: Charles Edward WalkerRelease Date: February 29, 2008 EBook #24719Language: EnglishCharacter set encoding: ASCII* START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AMATEUR FISH CULTURE *AMATEUR FISHCULTUREBY CHARLES EDWARD WALKERAUTHOR OF OLD FLIES I

2、N NEWDRESSES SHOOTING ON ASMALL INCOME, ETCWESTMINSTERARCHIBALD CONSTABLE & CO LTD2 WHITEHALL GARDENS1901Butler & Tanner,The Selwood Printing Works,Frome, and London.PREFACEMy aim, in this little book, has been to give information and hintswhich will prove useful to the amateur. Some of the plans an

3、d apparatussuggested would not be suitable for fish culture on a large scale, butmy object has been to confine myself entirely to operations on a smallscale. I have to thank the Editor of _Land and Water_ for permission topublish in book form what first appeared as a series of articles.CHARLES WALKE

4、R.Mayfield, Sussex._March, 1901._CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I Introductory 1 II Stocking Waters with Food 7 III Suitable Fish and Suitable Waters 14 IV Trout. Preliminary Hints and Advice 20 V Trout. Rearing Ponds, Boxes, and Hatching Trays 27 VI Trout. Management of the Ova and Alevins 34 VII Trout. Man

5、agement of the Fry 42 VIII Trout. The Management of the Fry (_Continued_) 51 IX Trout. The Friends and Enemies of the Fish Culturist 58 X Trout. Management, Feeding, and Turning out of Yearlings 67 XI The Rearing of the Rainbow Trout, American Brook Trout, and Char 72 XII Salmon and Sea-Trout 81 XII

6、I Coarse Fish 88 Appendix 93 Index 97CHAPTER IINTRODUCTORYFish culture of a certain kind dates from very early times, but itsscientific development has only come about quite recently. Most peopleknow that in our own country the monks had stew ponds, where they keptfish, principally carp, and also th

7、at the Romans kept fish in ponds. Inthe latter case we hear more often of the eel than of other fish. Thebreeding of trout and salmon, and the artificial spawning and hatchingof ova, are, however, an innovation of our own time.Much has been discovered about the procreation of fish, and in no casehav

8、e scientists worked so hard and discovered more than in the case of_Salmonidae_. Fish culture, particularly trout culture, has become atrade, and a paying one. To any one who has the least idea of thedifficulties to be overcome in rearing _Salmonidae_, this fact aloneproves that fish culture must ha

9、ve progressed to a very advanced stageas a science.This advance has in very many, if not in the majority of cases, beenmade by the bitter experience gained through failures and mishaps, forthese have led fish culturists to try many different means to preventmischances, or to rectify them if they hav

10、e happened. Some of the mostserious difficulties experienced by the early fish culturists who bred_Salmonidae_ can now be almost disregarded, for they hardly exist for themodern fish culturist, with the knowledge he possesses of the experienceof others.So much of what has been done in fish culture i

11、s generally known tothose who have studied and practised it, that the beginner can nowadayscommence far ahead of the point whence the first fish culturistsstarted. Many of his difficulties have been overcome for him already,and though he will not, of course, meet with the success of the man ofexperi

12、ence, still he ought with the exercise of an average amount ofintelligence to avoid such failures as would completely disgust him.There are many pieces of water containing nothing but coarse fish whichare very suitable for trout of some kind. Ponds, particularly thosewhich have a stream running thro

13、ugh them, will, as a rule, support agood head of trout if properly managed. Again a water which containstrout may become more or less depleted, and here it is necessary tosupply the deficiency of trout by some means. The easiest way is, ofcourse, to buy yearling or two-year-old fish from a piscicult

14、uralestablishment, of which there are many in the kingdom, but I know thatthere are many fishermen who would much prefer to rear their own fishfrom the ova, than to buy ready-made fish. Any one who has the time andopportunity to rear his own fish will be amply repaid by the amusementand interest gai

15、ned, and it should be the cheaper method of stocking orre-stocking a water.The same remarks apply to a certain extent to waters which will notsupport trout, or where the owner wants more coarse fish. The stock ofcoarse fish may be improved by fish culture just as much as a stock oftrout.In his first

16、 year or two, it is very possible that the amateur will notsave very much by being his own pisciculturist. If, however, he iscareful, and works with intelligence, it is quite possible that he maysucceed better than he had hoped and rear a good head of fish at a lesscost than the purchase of yearling

17、s. In any case he will have had agreat deal of pleasure and gained experience as well as reared somefish.In the present little volume, I propose to try and deal with fishculture in such a way as to help the amateur who wishes to rear fish tostock his own water. Much of the existing literature of the

18、 subjectdeals with it on such a large scale that the amateur is frightened toattempt what is apparently so huge an undertaking. Fish culture may,however, be carried out on a small scale with success, and thoughconsiderable attention is necessary, particularly with young_Salmonidae_, it is not a task

19、 which involves a very great proportion ofthe time of any one undertaking it. It is absolutely necessary, however,that the amateur fish culturist should live on the spot, or have someone who is intelligent and perfectly trustworthy who does. In every casein my experience, trusting the care of young

20、fish to a keeper or servanthas resulted in failure, and in every failure I have seen where the fishhave not been trusted to the care of a servant, the cause has been veryobvious, and could easily have been avoided.The rearing of trout is the most important branch of fish culture to theamateur, and f

21、ortunately but slight modifications are necessary inrearing other fish. What is good enough for trout is good enough formost fish, therefore I think that I shall be right in describing troutculture at considerable length, and dealing with other fish in asomewhat summary manner. The difference in the

22、 management, etc., ofother fish I shall point out after describing how to rear trout.To begin with, the amateur must not suppose that because he puts fishinto a stream or pond he will succeed in stocking that water orincreasing the head of fish. There are many other things to beconsidered. The river

23、, stream, or pond must be of a suitable characterfor the fish, and there must be plenty of food. I am sure that it ismuch more important to consider carefully whether the water is suitable,and contains a proper supply of food, than to consider how the fish areto be obtained, for recourse may always

24、be had to a professional fishculturist-fish of almost any kind and any age can be bought readymade.The point I would impress upon the amateur more forcibly than anythingelse, is that he should be sure that there is plenty for his fish to eatin the water, before he thinks of putting them into it. It

25、is for thisreason that I devote my next chapter chiefly to the stocking of waterswith food and to the improvement of the food supply in waters where somefood already exists.CHAPTER IISTOCKING WATERS WITH FOODIt may seem somewhat superfluous to say that fish cannot live in anywater unless that water

26、contains the food supply necessary for them tothrive upon, and yet this is the point most often overlooked in stockingwaters with fish. Small attempts at stocking with creatures suitable forfood, particularly after the fish have been already introduced, are notat all likely to succeed. Such an impor

27、tant matter when treated as asmall afterthought is almost sure to end in failure of the wholebusiness of stocking.But a small amount of thought will convince any one that in order thatthere may be a sufficient amount of animal life in a water, there mustbe an adequate vegetable life, for weeds are a

28、lmost always necessary tothe well-being of the creatures which serve as food for fishes.In the case of a pond it is generally fairly easy to introduce a goodstock of suitable weeds. The best method is to let the pond down as lowas possible, and then to plant some weeds round the margin; the water is

29、then allowed to gradually fill up the pond, and as it rises weeds areplanted round the rising margin of the water. In ponds which cannot beemptied at all, or not sufficiently to carry out this plan, weeds may beplanted in an easy but not quite so effectual a manner. They may beplanted in shallow bas

30、kets containing some mud from the bottom of thepond, and then lowered in suitable places from a boat, or bundles of theweed may be tied to stones and dropped into the water in a similarmanner.These latter methods are, of course, not so good as actually plantingthe weeds round the advancing margin of

31、 the water, for success dependsto a certain extent upon chance. Some of the weeds thus planted are,however, sure to take root and grow. Plants of different kinds, ofcourse, are necessary at different depths and on different kinds ofbottoms, and good kinds are necessary at the margin of the water asw

32、ell. I give a list of some suitable plants of each kind at the end ofthis chapter.Similar methods are used in planting weeds in rivers and streams tothose used in ponds. If the weeds are planted in baskets, the basketsmust, of course, be weighted when put in a position where the currentcan act upon

33、them.Besides vegetation in the water, vegetation on the bank is ofconsiderable importance. I shall deal with this at a later period morefully, as trees and bushes, besides harbouring many insects which serveas food for fish, have also considerable importance in giving cover tothe fish and to the fis

34、herman who is pursuing them.I think that in the case of a bare water, a year at least should bedevoted to developing a good supply of vegetation. This will generallyproduce a considerable amount of animal life, without any artificialhelp, but judicious help will be sure to accelerate matters to acon

35、siderable extent. I would, however, advise the amateur not to attemptto introduce a quantity of creatures into his water, until the vegetablelife therein is well established. For instance, though fresh-watersnails are desirable in every trout water, if introduced in largenumbers into a water in whic

36、h the vegetation is small and not wellestablished, they will eat down the weeds too much and then die off fromdisease caused by want of sufficient nourishment.Having established the vegetable life well in a water, and developed itto a considerable extent, the amateur may begin to examine his water,a

37、nd find out how much animal life exists there, and to stock withcreatures suitable for food, according to what he finds in the water.Fresh-water snails are always desirable. In streams, or in ponds withstreams running into them, the fresh-water shrimps (_Gammarus pulex_)should always be tried. It do

38、es not do in some waters, but where it doesthrive it increases very rapidly, and forms about the best article offood that can be given to trout. _Corixae_, which thrive in ponds andsluggish waters, should always be introduced. They increase rapidly, andare taken by most fish, particularly by trout.

39、The amateur should becareful when he introduces these creatures to make sure that he isputting in the right creature. The water-boatman (_Nautonecta glauca_)is a member of the same family, but is no use as food for the fish. Heswims on his back, is longer and narrower than are _Corixae_, which donot

40、 swim on their backs, are smaller, broader, and live much more underwater than the water-boatman. It is generally advisable to avoidwater-beetles, as most of them are more likely to do harm than good,such a number of our water-beetles being carnivorous. They will probablynot harm adult fish, but the

41、y will destroy ova and fry. I have known a_Dytiscus marginalis_ kill a trout of nearly a quarter of a pound inweight.In order to make sure of not introducing carnivorous water-beetles intoa water, I think it best as a rule not to introduce beetles at all._Corixae_ are, however, so like beetles, that

42、 many people call thembeetles, and therefore I will give a few points which will make themeasily distinguishable from each other. In beetles, the wing-cases(elytra) meet exactly in the middle line, in _Corixae_ and otherwater-bugs, the anterior wings, which resemble the elytra of beetles,overlap, wh

43、ich causes the line on the back to curve away to one side atthe lower end. In beetles the wings which lie under the wing-cases arefolded up on themselves, and when spread out are much larger than thewing-cases. The wings are transparent and very delicate. In _Corixae_ theposterior wings, which lie u

44、nder the hard and horny anterior wings, area little shorter than the anterior wings; they are not folded up onthemselves and are not so delicate and transparent as the wings of thebeetle.Such small creatures as _Daphnia pulex_, _Cyclops quadricornis_ and_Rotifera_ should be introduced into ponds.Sna

45、ils (_Gasteropoda_) may be roughly divided into three classes,according to the shape of their shells: (1) Flat-shaped coils (type_Planorbis corneus_); (2) Oblong-shaped, somewhat like a trumpet (type_Limnaea stagnalis_); and (3) Ear-shaped (type _Limnaea auricularia_)._Limnaea auricularia_ is particularly suitable for deep waters, and _L.pereger_, whose shell is of type 2, is a most valuable addition to thefood supply in any fish pond. It is one of the commonest of ourfresh-water snails.Mussels (_Conchifera_) are another valuable article of food. There are ag