2040 The Cornell Reading Courses 



It is advised, therefore, that the inflow be large from about October 

 first to the fore part of May, and that at other times it be reduced to 

 an amount sufficient only to maintain the desired water level. 



Fishing the pond 

 In a pond run merely to meet the demands of a family or two, there 

 will hardly be a desire to harvest the total output at one time ; consequently 

 there need be no special outlay for fishing equipment. Fishing with 

 hook and line will no doubt be the popular method in a large nvmiber 

 of cases. Many times, however, the largest and most desirable fishes 

 refuse to be caught by ordinary methods of angling, and one must resort 

 to the use of such contrivances as the set line, the seine, and the fish trap. 

 The set line is too well known to need explanation. By its use one 

 may be as certain of capturing a considerable number at almost any 

 time as with almost any other device. There is one bad feature, however, 

 in that undersized fishes so captured are generally injured beyond re- 

 covery. 



A seine fifty feet long with a liberal bag at the center will be serviceable 

 in places where vegetation is scant, but useless where it is dense. One 

 other disadvantage is that it requires two or more persons to operate it 

 successfully. Should it become desirable to use a seine, one having 

 meshes no smaller than one and one-half or two inches should be selected, 

 so that all undersized fishes may escape without injury. 



The fish trap is one of the most 

 efficient devices, and at the same 

 time one causing the least injury 

 to entrapped fishes. In general it 

 consists of two wings converging 

 toward a funnel, which opens into 

 a compartment. Fishes easily find 

 their way through the funnel into 

 the compartment, but on attempt- 

 ing to return are rarely successful. A trap, which any one can easily 

 make of chicken wire, is illustrated in figure 203. It is held in place 

 by means of pegs (B), passing through wire loops at the various 

 points indicated. These pegs should be about as large as broom 

 handles, so that they may be inserted easily by hand. If the wings 

 (A) are independent of the box part of the trap, the latter can be the 

 more easily taken up and emptied. D is a door of sheet iron, which 

 may be secured with a padlock. The funnel leads to an opening from 

 three to four inches in diameter, and through which the fishes pass to 

 the compartment (C). The wire to be used in the construction of the 



Fig. 203. — Wire fish-trap 



