16 RACEWAYS BOTTOM OF PONDS. 



the water will very soon work around or under a short 

 box, and allow the fish to escape. If the water enters witli 

 a fall, it may be allowed to pour over upon an apron, con- 

 structed of thin slats, one-half or one-quarter of an inch 

 apart, and set edgeways. This will let the water through 

 and keep the fish from running up. Trout will run up 

 stream very freely, working their way through a small 

 passage, but will not try very much to run down stream. 



Bottom of Ponds. — It matters very little of what ma- 

 terial the bottom is composed. Anything — mud, clay or 

 moss is good, except gravel, and this is bad, not from the na- 

 ture of the substance, but because the fish will spawn on 

 it and the eggs be lost. Sometimes a person will wish to 

 construct a pond in a place where there are springs, or to 

 dam up the water and make a pond in a springy place. 

 Under such circumstances it is a good plan to fill the bot- 

 tom entirely with gravel, as the fish would spawn there in 

 any case. For such a pond make the borders very shal- 

 low, so that the little fish may run up into the shallow 

 water and escape from the large fish ; or have the pond so 

 arranged that after the fish have spawned they may be 

 removed. Thus the eggs will hatch out and the little ones 

 grow without danger. When the next season of spawning 

 comes the little fish may be removed into another pond 

 and the old ones let in again to spawn. Such a pond is 

 good for any one wishing his establishment to run itself, as 

 with a little care he can raise many fish in it witliout much 

 trouble. Yery often the bottom of a pond is porus and 

 absorbs the water as fast as it runs in, so that there is 

 hardly any running from the proper outlet. If you are 

 short of water and wish to use all you can get for another 

 pond, it is best to cement the bottom. If you have no fur- 

 ther use for the water, it makes no difierence how it goes 

 ofi", that is if there are no holes in the bottom large enough 



