14G Fish and Game Warden. [Bull. No. 1. 



ponds that are fed by windmill or other pumps are not so 

 likely to be stocked. These ponds are sometimes supplied with 

 aquatic plants by water birds that carry seeds or spores from 

 one body of water to another. The best way to stock a pond 

 is to plant desirable plants, which can usually be secured from 

 some pond, lake or stream in the neighborhood. Sometimes 

 it is necessary to have plants shipped from places where they 

 are known to grow. There is a good supply in the State 

 Hatchery ponds. They can be distributed to persons who ask 

 for them, at the same time the fish are being delivered. 



It is not our purpose in this bulletin to give illustrations of 

 the most desirable plants for pond culture purposes, and with- 

 out cuts the names of the plants would not be of much value. 

 We contemplate publishing a bulletin at some future time on 

 aquatic plants in Kansas ponds and streams, with illustrations 

 that will make it possible to identify the chief varieties. 



Some of the most desirable plants for fish-culture purposes 

 in this locality belong to the "green algse," a low order of 

 plant life. Of these the Chara "moss" or stoneworts (order 

 Charales) are among the best. They grow in water from two 

 to five feet in depth, and are fixed to the bottom and form great 

 masses. The stems are cylindrical and do not vary much in 

 size from bottom to top. The stems are jointed, the joints 

 sending out circles of lateral branches which themselves send 

 out branches. Som.e of the stoneworts or Charales become in- 

 crusted with carbonate of lime, and this has caused them to be 

 designated as "stoneworts" (stone plants). This plant is very 

 common in Kansas ponds where the water is not too roily 

 and is more or less permanent. In most localities it is called 

 "moss."* The leaves are long and slender and in whirls 

 around the jointed stem. Any pond that has a supply of 

 stoneworts and bunches of water lilies growing in it should be 

 in good condition for fish. Once stocked with the above plants 

 it will be easy to introduce other varieties, if they do not soon 

 appear as volunteers. 



There are many semiaquatic plants, such as sedges, rushes, 

 pondweeds, pickerel weeds, smartweeds, arrowheads, a num- 

 ber of grasses and cattails, that grow around the borders of 

 ponds. These are all more or less valuable. Various forms of 

 life are found on them under the water, and they attract vari- 

 ous kinds of land insects that frequently fall or are blown into 

 the water where the fish can get them. These plants also form 

 windbrakes and protect feeding grounds for the small fish 

 near the shore. So we learn that plant life not only nourishes 

 and sustains all animal life, but in many cases protects and in 

 a way cares for animal life. 



Plant life also plays an important part in the purification of 

 water. Plants during their growth use carbon dioxide (car- 



* See note of explanation on page 126. 



