[29] POND CULTURE. 495 



every squad along the ditch should have piled enough earth at a dfs- 

 tance of 3.6 meters, to give work to one shoveler, and as soon as it has 

 been moved another 3.0 meters to another shoveler, and so on till the 

 earth is brought to the edge of the sole of the dike on the land side. In 

 constructing small ponds the piling up of the earth and the consequent 

 placing of the shovelers will progress so rapidly that there will be no 

 need of temporarily finding other employment for these shovelers. In 

 large ponds they m !y, unless employed in digging the foundation of the 

 dike, temporarily engage in some other work, e. g., the digging of another 

 ditch, and whenever needed they may be called on to aid in the con- 

 struction of the dike. But even in the case of large ponds the time till 

 the shovelers are needed at the dike will be very short j if, however, the 

 number of these shovelers is large, an unnecessary expense would be 

 incurred by letting them stand idle, even for a short time. After all 

 the shovelers have been set to work in removing the earth towards the 

 dike, and every squad is, therefore, complete, it will be found (if the 

 calculation has been correct as to the nature of the soil, the outlines of 

 the piece of ground to be worked, and the distances for which the earth 

 has to be carried) that one shoveler, seconded by a proportionate num- 

 ber of men with pickaxes, will dig out and throw the earth the distance 

 assigned him, one man will level it and pound it, and the other shovel- 

 ,ers will be engaged in moving it from one point to the other. 

 I As regards the.pouuders, it will be best to place several in a row, be- 

 . cause if each one pounds at some distance from the other the earth'will 

 'escape on all sides. If there is any scarcity of rammers, the diflerent 

 , layers may be trodden down by the laborers 5 but as in that case one 

 ,man would not be sufficient to attend both to the leveling and pounding, 

 lit will be found advantageous to supply the necessary number of ram- 

 (iners, one to ea^^h man. After the first prism has been dug out, work 

 IS commenced on the second, and so on till the sole of the ditch is reached. 

 The deeper one goes the slower will the work progress, because the 

 earth will have to be thrown not only in a horizontal but also in a verti- 

 cal direction. 



I In case the scarfs of the dike are not to be covered, as much good earth 

 as possible should be used for the outer coating. This earth should be 

 (Hied up beyond the outer edges of the boards indicating the outlines 

 |ind should here be particularly well pounded and beaten together with 

 ^road and heavy pieces of wood. During this whole process the earth 

 (should be sprinkled a little. When this has been done the scarfs are, 

 jv'ith the shovel, made as a*iooth and exact as i)0S8ible, which adds 

 treatly to their firmness, as the water is not apt to do as much dam- 

 age to a smooth wall of earth as to one intersected by large and small 

 'arrows. If the dike is to remain uncovered, it should under all circum- 

 |tances be planted with willows. If the sides are to be covered, one 

 jcaves a distance of 45 to 60 centimeters between the earth- work and 

 ^he ropes indicating the outUne, and does not begin to cover the dike 



