7S0 



GLEANINGS iN J5KE (JULTUIU:. 



Oct 



was a new one, just finished, and ready for 

 a sunamer shOwer to fill it up. The dam 

 here came right up by the side of the road, 

 and it was supported and made strong by a 

 willow hedge. This was another idea worth 

 many times my trip. A willow hedge would 

 grow splendidly along the bank of the pond; 

 and after their roots get well anchored in 

 the soil, it wotiM take a freshet indeed to 

 break the pond away. This pond is to be 

 quite a little larger than the others. The 

 next one he called his " store-pond." It was 

 simply to keep big fish in until they wanted 

 them to use. It might liave been twenty 

 feet wide by thirty feet long; but, so far as 

 I can remember, I think tlie dimensions 

 were smaller instead of larger. The idea 

 became more and more apparent that carp 

 could be raised in a little pool of water just 

 as well as in a pond covering acres. This 

 pond had been in use long enough sotliatthe 

 banks were covered with a grassy sod. And 

 here came out another of his plans. During 

 a dry season a part of the ponds were drawn 

 off, the ground harrowed up and sown to 

 grass, \yhen the grass gets a good hold the 

 ponds are filled with water, and the fish are 

 allowed to graze and dig out the roots ; and 

 this grassing and sodding process makes the 

 dams themselves impervious and strong. 

 The ponds for summer use, and for keeping 

 carp for the table, may be very small and 

 very shallow ; in fact, the latter seems to be 

 preferable for spawning purposes. When 

 winter comes, take all your fish and put 

 them in a pond having holes three or more 

 feet deep. It is by no means certain, how- 

 ever, that this depth is necessary. 



The next pond we visited was quite nar- 

 row but I'ather long. In here were the larg- 

 est fish, and it was a treat indeed to see 

 them swim around with hardly water 

 enough to cover their great backs. As tliey 

 curved their bodies and gracefully moved 

 about under the rays of the fast-setting sun, 

 it seemed to me I never saw a prettier sight. 

 They were comparatively tame, and the 

 sound of their lips as tliey nosed about 

 among the water-plants plainly indicated 

 they were feeding. When asked if they 

 could be safely wintered in such a small 

 pond as this, friend W. replied : 



" Why, Mr. Hoot, you will hardly believe 

 me when I tell you that I once found one of 

 those great big fish frozen fast in the ice. 

 He was apparently as dead as a door-nail, 

 and so I got my ax and chopped him out, 

 thinking that a frozen fish would be just as 

 nice to make a dinner of as any. 1 laid him 



down on tlie ice, sticking fast to a great 

 chunk, and, pretty soon to my great surprise, 

 he commenced flopping about. I put him 

 back in the water, and it never seemed to 

 hurt him a particle." 



Now, then, if freezing fish fast in the ice 

 does not kill them, how do we know that cold 

 kills them at allV 



As his fish have outgrown their small 

 quarters, many of them, he has scooped out 

 the largest ones and put them around in 

 different places on the farm, temporarily ; 

 and in a running l)rook from a spring near 

 his house he had placed a number of great 

 big fellows, waiting until they were wanted. 

 He said he felt quite anxious about them, 

 for with a heavy rain the water would pour 

 down between the hills so as to overflow this 

 brook run entirely. Now, I should have 

 picked upon this low spot close to the 

 spring for my carp-ponds ; but he wisely de- 

 cided in the outset that he couldn't risk any 

 ponds on low ground that might by any pos- 

 sibility be covered with water ; and by so 

 doing he has demonstrated to the world at 

 large that fish may be produced in countless 

 numbers, and at an almost insignificant ex- 

 pense, on almost any upland farm, or on any 

 ground which it may not be advisable to use 

 for any other purpose. If rainwater alone 

 will keep a carp-p >nd through so dry a sum- 

 mer as that of l.s>->7, it seems as if it 

 would be safe to decide they could be kept 

 safely through an average season. As we 

 drove homeward, however, I thought of my 

 Mindmill and its incessant stream of spring 

 water ; and I felt as if I thought more of it 

 than I ever did before. Such a windmill 

 woidd have been worth ever so much to 

 friend White. 



Although it was (]uite dark when we were 

 ready to go, friend V/hite insisted on getting 

 some apples and pears for us to take along. 

 Huber seconded this suggestion quite heart- 

 ily. As M'e were getting into the buggy I 

 suggested that I was writing a book, and 

 felt that I had been greatly enriched by my 

 visit, when our genial friend replied : 



" Why, Mr. Root, come down and bring 

 your wife, and stay a whole week or two 

 weeks, and it sha'n't cost you a copper for 

 board and lodging, and I will tell you all I 

 know about the fish, and we will have a good 

 time watching and working with them.'' 



I told him that, while I thanked him ever 

 so much for his kind offer, it would be en- 

 tirely out of the question; and as I went 

 away I figured up mentally the amount of 

 infoi-mation T had secured in just about one 



