Belding. — Stocking State Waters 145 



fields were cultivated or uncultivated, such as pasture, 

 meadow and marsh land. The height and slope of the 

 shores and character of the beaches were likewise noted. 

 Cottages, hotels, gunning stands, ice houses, etc., were 

 recorded as indicating the popularity of the pond as a 

 pleasure resort. 



Inlets and Outlets. The inlets and outlets with the vol- 

 ume of water, temperature, amount of sediment and pol- 

 lution, such as manufacturing waste or sewage, were 

 described. The presence of a dam at the outlet indicated 

 that the pond had either been raised above its original 

 area or that it was wholly artificial. In certain instances 

 it was practically impossible to definitely determine 

 whether a pond thus raised was originally a state pond. 



Fish. Information concerning the different species of 

 fish was obtained from fishermen and people living in the 

 immediate vicinity, who were acquainted with the pond. 

 In the rapid survey it was manifestly impossible to obtain 

 this information in any other way, and for this reason 

 the question of the quantity of the fish and the present 

 production of any pond was only determined in a very 

 general way, as the term "good fishing" is but relative, 

 varying with locality. 



Fish food. The study of fish food was undertaken in 

 two ways: (1) The examination of the stomach con- 

 tents of various species, both of the small and the large 

 fish, under various conditions, and at different seasons. 

 (2) The determination of the character and amount of 

 the floating organisms (plankton) in the different ponds 

 by means of a silk bolting cloth net. 



(2) Coastal Streams 

 The second step was a survey of the coastal streams 

 in connection with the alewife or branch herring fishery. 

 Formerly the alewives ran up these streams in great 

 numbers each spring to spawn in the fresh water ponds. 

 In this work the coastal streams and their tributaries 

 were examined by a representative of the state commis- 

 sion. Every dam, obstruction, fishway, cranberry bog, 



