24 Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



Such ponds are especially satisfactory for the rearing of 

 some of the more common varieties of fishes, such as the crap- 

 pies, the sunfishes and the catfishes. 



. Grounds and Soils Suitable for Ponds. 



Most of the ground in Kansas is well adapted for pond-build- 

 ing purposes and not much difficulty has been experienced in 

 getting the soil to hold water. In some sandy localities it 

 has been necessary to give some special treatments to the bot- 

 toms or basins of the ponds. If the soil on the bottom of the 

 pond is very sandy it is a good idea to haul a few loads of clay 

 or good soil, comparatively free from sand, and spread it over 

 the ground. A bunch of cattle or other animals tramping over 

 this when it is wet will greatly improve the condition of the 

 bottom of the pond for holding water. I am told by those who 

 have tried it that straw spread over a wet, sandy bottom and 

 thoroughly tramped into the mud will also make a bottom that 

 will hold water, and that a combination of clay and straw 

 worked into the mud of the bottom of the pond by the hoofs of 

 animals rtiade a good, water-tight surface. 



Another method is to sow the ground to grass or some kind 

 of small grain, and then pasture it. The best of all methods, 

 so far as I know from experience of my own and that of some 

 of my friends who have built such ponds, is to use the ground 

 for a feed yard for a few months. Although the soil may be 

 very sandy, this kind of treatment will usually furnish a bot- 

 tom that is practically impervious to water. The conditions 

 and circumstances under which the pond is to be built will in- 

 dicate which of these methods, or perhaps which combination 

 of them, should be used for any particular locality. 



After water has been turned into a pond, the ability of its 

 ground surface to hold it seems to improve from year to year. 

 This waterproofing, so to speak, of the bottom that comes with 

 age is undoubtedly due to fine sediment that accumulates in the 

 pond and is aided very materially by particles of decaying vege- 

 table matter found in all ponds as soon as plants begin to grow 

 in them. 



SOME GE7»IERAL NOTES ON PONDS. 



Chain of Ponds. 



In the building of ponds the lay of the ground frequently 

 makes it advisable to construct two, three or more ponds rather 

 than one. Moreover, two, three or four ponds, with from one 

 to three acres of water each, can be managed to much better 

 advantage for fish-culture purposes than one pond containing 

 the same acreage of water as the combined ponds. The ponds 

 can be connected with pipes that will allow the water to flow 

 from one to the other, thus keeping up a circulation and sus- 

 taining the greatest number of ponds with the least possible 



