2014 The Cornell Reading Courses 



more favorable. By excavating and lining the depression with clayey- 

 soil, it is often possible to conserve the supply of water throughout the 

 dry season. Many good fishponds of this type are to be found in parts 

 of Kentucky and Tennessee, which are subject to longer droughts than 

 are likely to occur in New York. 



POND CONSTRUCTION 



Size and shape of the pond 



How large a pond should be, will depend within certain limits on the 

 amount of fish flesh desired. Taking one pound as the average amount in 

 the rough used by one person in one meal, a family of seven in one year 

 having fish for one meal each week will require roughly three hundred 

 and sixty pounds. While there is no definite data concerning the pro- 

 ductiveness of a one-acre fishpond in New York State, the results obtained 

 from a similar body of water in Kansas, as reported by Dyche in 19 14, 

 lead to the belief that one-half acre of water will be ample to produce 

 this amount of fish. It must be remembered, however, that the pro- 

 ductiveness of a pond is dependent on the stocking and the management, 

 and what is the best method is still an open question. Ease of raanage- 

 ment must be considered in determining the size of the pond. Several 

 small ponds can be operated more easily than a large one of equal area. 

 An acre is about the maximum size consistent with thorough management. 



The shape of the pond will be influenced by that of the area available. 

 If this is not limited, then the ease of management should be the 

 controlling factor. Within certain limits long narrow ponds are more 

 easily cared for than broad ones. While it would be unwise in the present 

 state of knowledge on this subject to set any limit, it may be said that 

 a pond from eighty to one hundred feet wide can be easily managed, 

 and at the same time the bottom topography may be favorably arranged. 



Depth and bottom topography 



It is generally true that shallow waters are more productive than deep 

 ones, but at just what depth the productiveness materially falls off cannot 

 be stated. One would not be far wrong in making the greater part of 

 the pond less than three feet deep, for in the shallows fishes find their 

 sustenance. In ponds that have a heavy coating of ice in winter, there 

 should be an area at least six feet deep, where the fishes may gather during 

 the cold season. If this is not provided there will be a high mortality 

 due to freezing or asphyxiation. For these reasons the contour of the 

 bottom should be similar to that shown in figure 174; that is, there should 

 be a shallow shelf on each side of the pond with a deep channel between. 



