AQUATIC PLANTS IN POND CULTURE. 29 
loaded into the boat. After the pond bottom has been gone over in 
this manner the sluices 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 scythe 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 14 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 water 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. 
