AQUATIC PLANTS IN POND CULTUKE. 29 



loaded into the boat. After the pond bottom has been gone over in 

 this manner the skiices are opened, and men following the water as 

 the pond is drawn pull by hand the remaining vegetation and stack 

 it in piles. If any patches of Chara are found where the fish are 

 liable to lodge, these are reached with rakes and thinned to release 

 the fish. After the fish have been removed, and while the pond bot- 

 tom is still wet, the piles of Chara are removed to the shore with 

 pitchforks. In the removal of such plants as water-lilies, rushes, cat- 

 tails, etc., the ordinary scj^the is used, but this method is resorted to 

 as little as possible because of the tracks made in the bottom of the 

 pond and the muddying of the water. 



At the Mammoth Spring station the method of drawing ponds and 

 removing vegetation is somewhat similar to that pursued at North- 

 ville. If it is desired to remove fish less than 2 inches in length, all 

 of the vegetation is raked out upon a raft and poled to the bank for 

 subsequent removal by horse and wagon. If larger fingerlings are in 

 the pond, the vegetation is first cleared as thoroughly as possible by 

 a similar method from a space about 100 feet in diameter around the 

 outlet drain. A channel is then cleared from the outlet of the pond 

 to its inlet. Ordinarily this preliminary work requires the services 

 of two men to each pond for two days. The ponds range from three- 

 fourths to IJ acres in area. On the third day the water is drawn down 

 to the cleared space near the outlet. As it recedes the Chara is 

 raked into windrows, the men working in from 1 to 2 feet of water, 

 thus keeping a clear channel ahead of the w^ater line. Windrows are 

 preferred to stacks, because the fish have a means of retreat through 

 the channel formed between the rows. 



Four or five men are engaged in the work at pond-drawing time. 

 Perhaps by 3 p. m. of the third day the water will have been drawn 

 down to the " kettle," the 100-foot cleared pool. If the pond contains 

 adult fish, they are at this time removed by sweeping a coarse-meshed 

 seine through the pool. The following morning the water tempera- 

 ture and other conditions are favorable for the removal of the finger- 

 ling stock. 



The superintendent has tried the Lydell rake, but thinks it involves 

 more labor and that the pond bottom is not so well cleaned as by the 

 method he has adopted. A raft is preferred to a boat, because it will 

 carry a large load of vegetation and the water quickly drains from it. 

 It is homemade. 12 by 16 feet. The outer framework of 2 by 12 inch 

 planks is fastened together by 6-inch bolts and then the inner planks 

 are slipped into place. The raft is supported by six 10-gallon iron- 

 bound kegs wired to the framework. The round holes in the center 

 of each end plank are for the insertion of stakes to hold the raft in 

 place while loading. 



