114 Management of Ponds and Wells. 



treated as 1 have recommended, will hardly ever require that 

 process. But if, in the course of thirty or forty years, it should 

 appear to be getting more choked up than is desirable, I would 

 advise the owner, instead of waiting till it dries itself, to take an 

 opportunity (say after harvest) of pumping out the water that may 

 be left. He might then leave it to dry for a few days, and as 

 soon as he begins to clean it out, let him put several hands on at 

 once and get the job done quickly and well, taking care to keej) 

 the bottom in its proper shape, and to repair the pitching and 

 rails if necessary. I have known so many instances where a pond 

 has been partly cleaned out, and the remainder of the work 

 stopped and spoilt by a heavy rain, that I wish to urge the advisa- 

 bility of not loitering over such a work. If rain comes on when 

 the mud has been removed from only a part of the pond, the 

 mud in the other part is again floated, and comes back to spread 

 itself over the clean, and so lower part. Where a large pond has 

 to be cleaned out, it is a great help to the men to attach a horse 

 by a long chain to the wheelbarrows. Each wheelbarrow, when 

 loaded, is placed on the plank ; the horse draws it up to the 

 tipping-place, where the man tips it, unfastens the chain, and 

 returns on the down plank, the horse also returning for the next 

 load. 



I have now exhausted all the suggestions which I have to offer 

 about ponds ; but before quitting the subject I should like to add 

 a few words as to the great importance and desirability of having 

 a large deep reservoir close to every good homestead. I know of 

 a case where a landlord dug one for his tenant (the latter finding 

 the carting), and the very next year the tenant's stacks were all 

 burnt down by an incendiary, as is supposed ; and there is not 

 the slightest doubt but that all the landlord's buildings would 

 also have been consumed if there had not been a copious supply 

 of water from the reservoir, just dug, so close at hand. As it 

 was, the buildings were hardly injured at all. This, of course, 

 is an extreme case ; but the value of a good supply of water at 

 the commencement of a fire is almost beyond calculation. In 

 the eastern and midland counties it is generally difficult to get a 

 large natural supply of water at any distance from the villages, 

 which always congregate round the springs. But it is very 

 essential for farm-premises to be as near as possible to the centre 

 of the farm, often many miles away from any stream or spring. 

 A pond, then, or a well, is all that can be looked to for the stock 

 or for a fire ; and in the latter case a pond is, of the two, decidedly 

 the more useful, as several engines may be fed from it at the 

 same time, leaving plenty of room for labourers to dip their 

 buckets. 



A deep well is very expensive to dig, besides the risk of not 



