132 Th irfif-Firsf A it it iial Meeting 



nailing three strips onto encli side plank of tlie upright. Into 

 the h-Ack groove hoards an inch thiek and three or four wid(.' are 

 slipped, these retaining the watt-r at its proper height, the sur- 

 plus l)eing discharged over the top l:)oard, and these l)eing 

 remo\ed one at a time when you wish to lower or empty your 

 pond. Into the front groove tlic frame of your screen is slipped 

 from ahove. This should ]je covered with galvanized wire cloth 

 with al)out one-half inch mesh. This should he used only when 

 the pond is heing emptied or lowered, for the few fry which will 

 escape ordinarily amounts to nothing, in fact, you are sure to 

 have too many after your first hatch in any event. 



The second cause of failure is the selection of too liigh-toned 

 fish and the introduction of too many species. Xot over two or 

 three species should be put into any pond of a few acres or less, 

 and the more desiral^le ones from your vicinity are likely to 

 ]U'ove the most successful. To introduce brook trout, unless you 

 have a very large spring of cold watei', will lead to failure, and 

 no matter how much water you have and how cold it is, you 

 would better leave the trout alone unless you know something of 

 their culture or wish to study their hal)its and make a pastime 

 of their cultivation. The same is true of the hlack bass, unless 

 you have a pond of several acres or wish to sacrifice a good 

 supply of fish for your talde for the s])ort of capturing a few 

 hass with rod and line, which, after all, can be best accomplished 

 in some nearljy public water, leaving your pond for the cultiva- 

 tion of those fish which will i)rovide you the maximum of good 

 food witli tlie minimum of troTd)le and expense. If black bass 

 is decided on, in nine cases out of ten, north or south — the 

 sniall-nioutli is not indigenous to the south south of north 

 Georgia — the large-mouth s])ecies should be selected, the oidv 

 exception being where the pond is supplied with an abuiulant 

 suiiply of cold water and where the bottom of the ])on(l is gravely 

 or rockv tbrongliout a considerable ]iortion of its area. If the 

 liottom of the pond is soft, suital)le for the growth of aquatic 

 vegetation, then the large-mouth should be introduct'd by all 

 ine;ins, if bass are to be selected al all. 



The best all round fish for small ])onds, north or south, is, 

 in the opinion of the ^n-iter, what is known as the marl)le or 

 mottled catfisb in tbe noi'tb and the speckled cat in the south. 



