52 How to obtain it. 



either in close proximity to the house and close together, or they 

 may be scattered at intervals among the wildest of scenery ; 

 indeed they may be placed, so to speak, anyhow and anywhere, 

 provided always, of course, that there is a suitable water supply. 



To begin with, let us take an average country house. There 

 is a small stream flowing somewhere not far off, and in it are to 

 be found always a few small trout a proof at once of its value, 

 and the very best guarantee that can be as to its capabilities for 

 supplying fish ponds. Don't on any account commence making 

 ponds by damming up this stream at intervals, as has so often 

 been done in the past. Such dams do not answer the purpose 

 desired at all satisfactorily, and are often quite unworkable. 

 Floods come down, and the result is that they get very much 

 silted up, or filled with debris of some kind. The amount that is 

 brought down by some of our mountain streams, when at times 

 they become torrents, must be seen to be understood. Well do 

 I remember remarking this to one of my early helpers as he was 

 receiving instructions for making a dam, when with a knowing 

 look he replied, " 'Deed, sir ; but there's a muckle heap d' 

 * deberis ' comes doon here, when the water's oot ! " This "heap 

 o' deberis " (debris] must be reckoned upon, for sooner or later it 

 is sure to come in most streams. In addition to the debris, which 

 may consist of stones, sand, earth, or whatever the ground may be 

 made of over which the stream flows, a good deal of other matter 

 often comes down. I have seen ponds made by damming up 

 streams that have given a great deal of trouble, simply owing to 

 the quantity of floating matter that comes down during spates. 

 \J Often the outlet has been made in the north-east corner of the 

 pond and on the embankment. The natural consequence is that 

 with every south-west gale, all the force of the water and floating 

 material is thrown on to the outlet screen, whereas by a little 

 forethought and arrangement this might often be easily avoided. 

 The chances are that the screen is choked and the result is an 

 overflow, by which probably some of the fish will be lost. 



To make a fish pond, then, or a set of ponds, select any 



1 suitable place off the stream. It may be close alongside or it may 



* be half-a-mile away. One of the best sets of working ponds I have 



ever made is about this distance from the point at which the water 



