2oi8 The Cornell Reading Courses 



Protection of the banks 



In a pond of an acre or more in extent there is likely to be some wave 

 erosion on the banks during severe winds. The sods removed in building 

 the pond may be laid along the dike from a point just below the proposed 

 water level at the top. In case sods are not available, the bank should 

 be liberally seeded to grass, which should be well started before water 

 is turned into the pond. As a temporary preventative of wave erosion, 

 a thick fringe of brush may be laid along the margin of the pond. This 

 is a very effective measure in a newly made pond while the banks are 

 becoming sodded. Finally a few willow cuttings stuck here and there 

 along the margin will help to hold the soil in place, and will also improve 

 the appearance of the pond as well as contribute a certain amount of 

 food for its inhabitants. Willow poles used in this way will soon become 

 trees. The lower twigs, however, should be kept pruned, for otherwise 

 they will constitute a hindrance to the proper management of the pond. 



Cost 

 The cost of building a pond will vary with conditions. If any great 

 amount of excavation has to be done, the cost will be high; nevertheless 

 one must remember that this item will not recur. The pond once properly 

 made and stocked will be permanently productive and will require practi- 

 cally no outlay for maintenance. 



the SAM bailey POND 



The following is quoted from Dyche's ^ description of the Sam Bailey 

 pond: 



Mr. Samuel Bailey lives on the uplands north of the valley of the Nin- 

 nescah and about one-half mile northeast of the vState Fish Hatchery 

 grounds. He has built a pond almost on the hilltop and its sole supply 

 of water is from a well. The water is pumped by windmill power and 

 carried into the pond through pipes. 



***** In size this pond covers an area less than one-fourth 

 of an acre and is circular in shape. It was built by Mr. Bailey at an ex- 

 pense, allowing fair wages for labor, not to exceed a cost of $25, or about 

 five days' work for a man with a good team, a plow and scraper. Of 

 course this does not include the cost of a good pum]3 and windmiU. After 

 the pond site had been definitely located, the excavation was made by 

 plowing the ground and scraping the dirt until the pond ca\dty was about 

 seven feet deep at the center and basin-shaped. The embankment walls, 

 rising about four feet in height, are about six feet wide on top. The 

 embankment surrounding the water represents the amount of dirt that 

 was removed in inaking the excavation for the pond. After the work 

 of digging and shaping the pond cavity had been finished, the ground 



1 Ponds, pond fish, and pond fish culture. By Lewis Lindsay Dyche. Kansas State Fish and Game 

 Department. 1914. 



