The live foods here mentioned are present, as a rule, from spring to autumn only—and what of the winter, you may ask. Well, in the winter a fish hardly feeds at all, it is in a sleepy state. moreover it is undergoing a physical change. All the nutriment stored up from a long period of gormandizing is being absorbed by the sex organs in preparation for breeding in the spring. If the pond is not a self supporting one it is well to obtain, either by purchase or by collecting from another pond, the fishes about the beginning of November; this, on account of the oiliness of the Daphne, win set them up for the winter.

It win be seen that, normally, a properly stocked pond will, in time, be self supporting. As a rule, however, most ponds are caned upon to support a larger population of fishes than Nature can cope with and so artificial food must be added. Food specially prepared for pond-fishes is sold by a number of firms that specialize in pets’ foods.

Now the indoor aquarium is, in reality, an artificial business altogether and as a result artificial foods must be used. That is, unless one is prepared to go to a little trouble to raise live foods.

Cold-water fishes, with the exception of the Bass and Catfish tribes, are omnivorous they win eat anything. The Bass and Catfish are carnivorous and, if live food is unobtainable, win manage on one of the prepared meat-meal foods with an occasional treat in the way of finely scraped raw meat or chopped earthworm Other live foods of value are bloodworms, enchytrae and tubifex, the last named is a relation of the earthworm and is objected to by some aquarists on the ground that it may remain in the fish as a parasite—there are no grounds whatever for such a surmise. These can be bought from the dealer and given to the fishes occasionally.

The dried foods are usually sold in packets at about 6d. each, but if one has many aquariums it is more economical to buy it by the quarter-pound at about 6s. od. per pound. For the aquarist with one tank and only half a dozen fish a 6d. packet win last for about a fortnight.

These foods are made in several grades, fine, medium and coarse. The fine grade is for the tiny fry and the coarse grade is for the larger fishes in the pond. The principal ingredient of good-class prepared food is dried Daphnaphe best all-round dried food there is—to which is added dried insects, biscuit meal, egg-powder, larval molluscs dried, vegetable powder (usually spinach), shredded shrimp meat, meat meal and sometimes a trace of mineral salts. I do not know of any packet food that contains an of the above, still, some of them have an amazing variety of ingredients.

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We will assume that we are making a purely formal pond twelve feet long and six feet wide, we will imagine, too, just for this once, that money is no object. When we come down to earth we can modify our plans according to our pocket and to the space available. Therefore, we will have two lilies, these will be planted six feet apart thus giving each plant 51., square feet in which to expand.

The choice of lily should be a matter for some deliberation. There are over one hundred and twenty different varieties of cultivated water-lilies and, while I do not despise the humble wild kind, there are so many magnificent types with fragrant blooms unequalled for table decoration to choose from, that it is far more satisfying to buy a ready good one. For our pond we will choose a crimson one, say James Hudson, with its large pointed petals slightly shot with mauve and a white one; Caroliniana shall be our choice because of its large blooms and lovely fragrance. Both of these should be planted in two and a half feet of water, and that will be our greatest depth. At one end of the pond the floor will be raised so that the depth is only a few inches and here may be planted Water Lobelia (plate iv), Water Forget-me-not, Water Arum (plate v), Water Mint—this plant seems to keep the water sweet—Marsh Marigold, etc. Butomus, otherwise the Water Gladioli (plate iv), and other tall marginal plants will thrive in the shallows also, their roots form an admirable shelter for the fish fry—their cannibalistic parents cannot reach them there.

The rest of the pond should be between a foot and eighteen inches in depth, which will suit the oxygenating plants such as Myriophyllum, Hornwort (plate u), Water Crowfoot (plate iii), etc., and one or other of the great Sagittaria family. The spearshaped leaves of these plants stand boldly out of the water, breaking up any flat effect.

A pond of the size under consideration will accommodate fifty medium-sized fishes. These should be of three types, those that swim on or near the surface, mid-water denizens and bottom fishes. Golden Orfes are, par cxcoUonco, the fishes for the surface and for our pond we will need a dozen. They swim in shoals and at a great speed and will leap right out of the water after mosquitoes and other insects.

A couple of dozen minnows will provide interest, they congregate at the edge of the pool in the shallow water and are off like a flash when approache that is, until they realise that at set times they w be fed, when both orfe and minnow become almost ” finger tame.”

Goldfish are for the mid-water; they are to preferred to the other carp species by virtue of the vivid colouring most of the carp kind are d olive and so are not seen so easily. Tench are t ideal bottom fishes, they dispose of worms that ha f committed suicide by falling in and other de; organisms that are likely to foul the water. Country people call them the ” Doctor Fish ” because the presence by some means keeps the other fish healthy. The slime with which their bodies a covered is generally supposed to be the reason, b I think that by acting as scavengers they do mo to maintain healthy conditions than by al particular emanation. Another good scavenger the catfish. a native of Central Europe it is ugly as the tench is beautiful.

The fishes to avoid are Pike, Perch and the Su fish tribe; they are too belligerent for polite society.

WATER-LILIES

These should be planted in loam in wicker baskets and on the top of the loam a layer of small stones should be lightly pressed, this prevents the soil being washed away. It is a good idea, when constructing the pond, to excavate a receptacle for the lily; this is far tidier than a basket.

The plant may be the common white Nymphae of the countryside or the yellow Nuphar which is equally common; either may be purchased for 2s. od. or 3s. od. The cultivated varieties, however, are so much more beautiful in all respects that it is advisable, if possible, to procure one. The cost may be anything from ss. od. to £s and for an extra 5s. 6d. it will be sent out already planted in a basket. I am giving here a list of the less expensive kinds, one of each colour and grouped according to the depth of water required.

For planting in four feet of water

Tuberosa         Richardsoni.   White

Brackleyi        rosea.              Pink

Attraction      Crimson.

This one is rather expensive. Col. Welch. Yellow.

For planting in two or three feet of water

Marliacea        albida.             White

carnea.            Pink.

rubra.              Crimson

chromatella.    Yellow.

For planting in one to two feet of water

Caroliniana Nivea.      White.

Odorata          Wm. Shaw. Pink. Froebeli. Crimson. Solfaterre. Yellow.

For the small rookery pool or tubs

Odorata minor, White

Laydeckeri lilacea. Pink

fulgens. Crimson. Pygmrea helvola. Yellow.

bundle should be weighted with a piece of lead or a pebble and lowered into the water at the required spot. For the aquarium, the individual stems should be weighted and laid on the sand, but not placed in the sand, otherwise the stem win rot.

Callitriche (Star Wort) (plate ii).

Ceratophyllum (Horn Wort) (plate ii). Chara (plate ii).

Elodea caUitrichoides, E. crispa, E. densa (plate ii), and, of course, E. canadensis, otherwise Anacharis or Water Thyme. The last-named does not flower in this country usually.

Eriocaulon (Pipe Wort) (plate u). Ludwigia (LoosestriIe) (plate iii). Myriophyllum (Water Milfoil) (plate iii). Potarnogeton (plate uu).

Ranunculus aquatilis (Water Crowfoot) (plate ii). Utricularia (plate nu). VaUisneria (Tape Grass) (plate iii).

Myriophyllum and Vallisneria are perhaps the best plants for the pond, they are good oxygenators and do not spread too rapidly, moreover the dense foliage of the former is ideal for the fishes when depositing their eggs.

The above plants are notable rather for the mass of greenery they produce, than for their flowers, there are, however, other oxygenating plants that bear delightful flowers. Hottonia palustris or Water Violet (plate iv) has a profusion of pale mauve flowers that stand some nine inches above the water. The Water Lobelia, Lobelia Dortmanna (plate iv), has short thick leaves from the centre of which rises a long thin stem bearing dainty pale-blue flowers. The two plants just mentioned are ideal for the shallow pool or the margin of the larger pond.

Finally, there are the Sagittaria species, ten at least are cultivated in this country, perhaps the most popular oxygenating plants for pond, lake or aquarium. The arrowhead-shaped leaves, standing as they do well out of the water, relieve any flatness and greatly improve the general effect. The most popular species for pond cultivation is the Common Arrowhead (Sagittaria sagittifolia) (plate iv) which should be planted in a foot of water, the leaves standing out of the water some eighteen inches. The aquarium species pusilla, natans and brevirostris have the fohage entirely submerged, with the flowers just rising above the surface.

Moreover, water-lilies do not thrive so well in a deep barrel—the deeper the water a lily is in, so much more win it require a larger surface of water for its leaves.

The old kitchen sink as suggested for the rockery may be brought into service for the water-garden. If loam, with a covering of shingle, lines the bottom, such beautiful plants as Water Lobelia (plate iv), Water Forget-me-not and other shadow-water lovers can be grown. In time, with good fortune, the whole of the sink will be covered like a carpet. Some sort of protection must be devised if fishes are to be kept in the sink; cats, of course, make this necessary, also the suicidal tendencies of the fish themselves.

I once had a sink-aquarium in which were six lusty young goldfish. As a protection from the sun over one corner a large tile was placed. At times the entire six fishes would retire beneath this tile and there commune solemnly together. One day one of the fish died, the post-mortem revealed nothing; another died on the following day and the remaining four did not look any too pleased with themselves.

Moreover, they avoided their old retreat beneath the tile. I lifted the tile and there squatted the ” Digger in the woodpile,” his nose just: out of the water, his eyes blinking in the sunlight—a large, fat toad. I imagine that the arid emanation from the toad’s skin had either poisoned the water or poisoned the fish by contact

To describe this type of aquarium I have coined the word aquarette. Where possible they should be set up in similar fashion to the larger kind a layer of gravel and, if there is room, an oxygenating· plant; in any case one of the floating plants will improve matters. It is a good plan to have a different floating plant for each aquarette, such a collection is both interesting and effective.

To stock the aquarette it is necessary to visit a natural pond of long standing. Equipment in the shape of wide-mouthed bottles and a muslin or canvas water-net is necessary, although I have on occasion had a most variegated haul by just pulling a clump of water-weed to the side with the crook of a walking-stick and putting it straight away into a jam-jar. Then, on arriving home the weed was placed in a larger vessel of water when hosts of small creatures emerged from’ nooks and crannies and so could be removed to separate quarters by using a glass dip-tube. In any case, no matter how the material is acquired, it should be placed, for preference, in a shallow dish; then the various organisms can be picked out and placed m their respective aquarettes.

Daphne are fairly easy to recognise by their corpulent look and by their curious jerking and tumbling mode of progression. Cyclops is slightly smaller and is quite slender, it progresses by a series of tiny jerks. The females are easy to recognize by the two pouches of eggs, both nearly as large as the creature itself, which project from the body like pale green wings.

Fresh-water whelks also are good scavengers but they are so enthusiastic that they eat plants before they have decayed, moreover they may attain, according to the species, quite a large size, and be more a menace than a benefit to the plants.

During the summer months, with the action of sunlight, the water may, and doubtless will, turn green. This unsightly greenness is caused by the same algal zoospores that stain the sides of the pond, the only difference is they are in a free state.

Green water is also caused by a minute organism called Euglena viridis, one of the Infusoria. It is  roughly oval in shape and has a whip-like appendage by means of which it is driven through the water; the total length of Euglena is about one two hundredths of an inch. Paramceciurn is four times as large as Euglena and is also responsible for a part of the green tint; the body is covered with a number of very fine hairs which serve the same purpose as the flagellum of Euglena. Paramecium is the finest food known for young fishes. In spite of that the fish-keeper likes to see crystal-clear water. There is only one way of achieving this for changing the water itself makes not the slightest difference, it will be just as green in a couple of days and that is by calling on the Fresh water Mussel, otherwise the Swan Mussel, alias Anodonta cygnea. This mollusc may grow to a length of six inches and as it progresses by ploughing its way through the soil, it is apt to uproot the plants, especially those that are not properly established.

In any case the aquarium is no place for the Swan Mussel, for the aquarium one or other of the small and dainty Pisidium or Sph criurn genera are advisable. I do not know of any dealer with any of these tiny mussels on his list but some of the species are quite common in ponds and slow-moving streams, from which they may be collected