922 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



Raceways. The second and third ponds should have a long, narrow raceway where 

 the water enters about thirty or forty feet long, four feet wide, and six inches deep. The 

 sides of the raceway should be made of one and a half inch plank, one foot in width. This 

 will answer for both natural and artificial impregnation. The raceway is reqiiired not only 

 for the purpose of spawning, but as a resort for the fish at all seasons of the year. Fish will 

 go into this shallow graveled race, into the quick-running water, to free themselves from the 

 parasites which often trouble them ; or they will go there if they are out of health and con 

 dition from any cause. This raceway must be filled with coarse gravel, and the bottom of 

 the pond made to slope gently up to the raceway. 



The head of the raceway is to be carefully looked after. If a series of ponds are made, 

 then the screens between will keep the fish from running from one to the other; but if single 

 ponds are used, each supplied with separate water from a stream, then much attention must 

 be paid to the screens where the water enters. It would be well if the water was brought 

 into the pond through a long box, as the water will very soon work around or under a short 

 box, and allow the fish to escape. If the water enters with a fall, it may be allowed to pour 

 over upon an apron, constructed of thin slats, one-half or one-quarter of an inch apart, and 

 set edgeways. This will let the water through, and keep the fish from running up. Trout 

 will run up stream very freely, working their way through a small passage, but will not try 

 much to run down stream. 



Wild Raceway. If the ponds are connected with a stream in which there are trout, 

 it is desirable if possible to make a raceway below the lowest dam and connect it with the 

 stream, so that wild fish may use it. In this way a great many trout will be taken in a ripe 

 condition that would otherwise spawn in some other part of the stream and be lost. The 

 wild raceway has the advantage not merely of utilizing fish that have not cost any expense to 

 keep, but of adding to the number of spawners for the following year by the addition of 

 those that are thus captured. 



Bottom of Ponds. It matters very little of what material the bottom is composed. 

 Anything mud, clay, or moss is good, except gravel, and this is bad, not from the nature 

 of the substance, but because the fish will spawn on it and the eggs be lost. Sometimes a 

 person will wish to construct a pond in a place where there are springs, or to dam up the 

 water and make a pond in a springy place. Under such circumstances it is a good plan to 

 fill the bottom entirely with gravel, as the fish would spawn there in any case. For such a 

 pond make the borders very shallow, so that the little fish may run up into the shallow water 

 and escape from the large fish; or have the pond so arranged that after the fisli have spawned 

 they may be removed. Thus the eggs will hatch out, and the little ones grow without 

 danger. When the next season of spawning comes, the little fish may be removed into 

 another pond, and the old ones let in again to spawn. Such a pond is good for any one 

 wishing his establishment to run itself, as with a little care he can raise many fish in it with 

 out much trouble. But the gravel must not be smaller than a hickory nut, and from that to 

 the size of a butternut . 



Very often the bottom of a pond is porous and absorbs the water as fast as it runs in, so 

 that there is hardly any running from the proper outlet. If you are short of water and wish 

 to use all you can get for another pond, it is best to cement the bottom. If you have no 

 further use for the water, it makes no difference how it goes off; that is, if there are no holes 

 in the bottom large enough to let the fish escape, and the water keeps up to its proper level. 

 Neither weeds nor mosses of any sort are necessary at the bottom, and if the supply of water is 

 not large they will speedily become a nuisance. The quantity of trout food which they pro 

 duce is of no account in an artificial pond where large numbers of trout are kept, and they 

 tend to foul the water by hiding dead fish and bits of meat. It is best, if possible, to have 

 ponds so arranged that they can be entirely drained. This is necessary sometimes for clean 

 ing or repairing them, and changing the fish from one pond to another. If the slope of the 

 ground is sufficient to permit of such an arrangement, it will often save much labor in pump 

 ing or bailing. The drain pipe may be of pump logs, tile, or pipe of any kind, and should be 

 fixed in the lowest part of the bottom, or as near it as the level of the ground will allow. 

 Still better would be a regular flume reaching from the bottom of the pond to the top. A 

 bulkhead may be put in to raise the water as high as may be required, and a wire screen the 

 whole size of the flume set a short distance in front of the bulkhead. This large screen has 



