If the available space and equipment is limited, then it is advisable to specialize in one or other of the less common fishes-shubunkins, fancy goldfish or the various sunfishes. However, whether one contemplates breeding fishes on a large or a small scale, the routine is the same. The details here given can be modified, therefore, to individual requirements.

There are several schools of thought regard-ing the correct procedure in the breeding of cold-water fishes, also there are a number of pitfalls

Roughly, however, the procedure is thus : with the first spell of warmish weather in late Spring it will be seen that certain of the fishes in the tank, or pool, are being assidu- ously chased by the others in and out among the plants. It is the females that are chased, and if there are too many males in the pond the female may die from exhaustion, so un- ceasing is the chase.

With aquarium fish, when the chasing com- mences the temperature of the water should be raised slightly, to about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. This can be done by raising the temperature of the room or breeding shed, or by using electric thermostats as sold for tropical aquariums.

The fishes should be fed liberally on live daphnae or, for preference, chopped earth- worm, when this prelude to mating is observed. Young males are better than old ones for breeding and they should outnumber the females by about six to four. As regards differentiating the sexes ; this is not easy in the ordinary way, but at breeding time certain characteristics become more developed. Wart- like protuberances appear on the gill covers of the male and by this sign alone it is usually possible to separate the sexes. The female, however, is deeper in the body and, when viewed from the head, looking towards the tail, the left side of the abdomen appears fuller than the right ; the angle from the vent to the anal fin is sharper and the vent itself is larger. The male is, then, a comparatively slender fish.