[7] POND CULTURE. 473 



Ifsucli a. lake (it becomes a i>oiid only by coii«triictiiig works for 

 filling or draining it at any time) has had its origin in the manner de- 

 scribed above, or if it is the natural meeting-jjlace of waters from springs 

 on higher ground or of the rain or snow water of an entire neighbor- 

 hood, or if the water has been gathered in one place for the purpose of 

 furnishing i)Ower for some mill or other factory, it will in all cases be 

 j)(»ssible to utilize the water for i>ond culture, unless it is polluted by 

 lefuse from the factories. 



Tiie main question, under all circumstances, will be, in what numner 

 this water can be inade most prolitabh; for ])ond culture. On the other 

 liand it cannot be denied that pond culture, as it is, has not yet reached 

 that degree of development which would make it impossible to derive 

 still greater protit from it; all the more it should be the object of our 

 pond culturists to obtain the greatest i)ossible benefit from their ])oih1s, 

 so that this culture, as far as its results are concerned, may keep step 

 with agriculture, and furnish a means of support in times when the in- 

 come from the latter is but small. Pond culture teaches how this object 

 may be attained and how fish-culture, and more especially carp-culture, 

 may be made to yield the greatest possible profit. It may be divided 

 into two parts : (1) The laying out, construction, and keeping of ponds; 

 and (2) Fish-culture in these ponds. 



I. — The Laying out and Keeping of Fish-ponds. 



In this chapter we shall speak only of su(;h ponds as have been laid 

 out and are kept for the purposes of raising and keeping fish, where fish 

 culture, therefore, forms the object and the ponds are the means for at- 

 taining this object; while in cases where the laying out of ponds has for 

 its object to furnish water-power for mills, &c., fish-culture appears as 

 the means to derive still greater benefit from existing ponds. 



Before laying out one or several ponds, the following i)oints should 

 be considered: (1) The location of the ground; (2) the configuration of 

 the ground; (3) the quantity of water on hand; (1) the quality of the 

 water; (5) the quality of the soil; (0) safety from inundations; (7) legal 

 right to use the water; and (8) the cost. 



All these points must be supposed to be settled in existing ])onds, 

 but even in these, there is, in many cases, a chance to make improve- 

 ments; but in order to make these improvements the existing conditions 

 should be carefully examined, and the consideration of the above points 

 may prove useful to persons who possess old, established ponds. 



1. The location of the geound suitable for laying out a pond 

 should be open on all sides, so that the i)ond may have the benefit of 

 the sun all day long; for the heat of the sun does not only further the 

 growth offish, but also the development offish-food, worms, and insects. 

 It does not hurt, however, but on the contrary is an advantage, if a 

 l)ortion of the pond is, at a suitable distance, surrounded by woods and 



