WEEDS OF PONDS, RIVERS, DITCHES 341 



DESTRUCTION OF WATER WEEDS 



i. The opportunities for the destruction of water 

 weeds, and the methods which can be employed for 

 diminishing them, are few compared with those available 

 in the case of weeds of gardens and fields. When 

 abundant in ditches they should be cut with the scythe 

 or hook or pulled up by hand, and their removal should 

 be arranged and repeated so that at all times of the 

 year the water has a free passage, and is not forced 

 back or kept in a stagnant state to the detriment of 

 adjoining cultivated land or pasture. 



Along the margins of ponds, lakes, and rivers also 

 they are best cut down with the scythe when the water 

 is low, or from a boat when wading is not feasible. 



In dealing with the question of cutting weeds in 

 rivers and lakes kept for fishing, or for the attraction 

 of water-fowl, it must be remembered that if weeds are 

 cleared away completely the natural cover, and to some 

 extent the spawning beds of fish, are destroyed or 

 damaged. Water plants provide food and shelter for 

 thousands of insects and their larvae upon which fish 

 and water-fowl largely feed, and their reduction involves 

 much detriment to the sporting value of the water. 

 Cutting should therefore be carried out with judgment, 

 patches being left untouched for a time, and cut later 

 when areas previously mown have somewhat re- 

 covered. 



The operation of cutting weeds in ponds and streams 

 is managed in various ways. A hand-power machine 

 for use with a boat or punt is illustrated in Fig. 100, 

 the weed-cutter consisting of V-shaped scolloped saws 

 dragged along the bottom at the end of an oscillating 

 and hinged arm. The same kind of cutter may be 

 used with motive power in a punt or boat, which may 



