TEOUT PONDS 99 



sion as to what it is best to do with the sides 

 of the trout-ponds. Many fish-culturists ad- 

 vocate "going back to nature, " as they express 

 it, that is to have natural banks without walls 

 or stays of any kind. There are, however, obvi- 

 ously many objections to doing this, except 

 where ponds are nearly if not quite half an 

 acre in extent, among which are exposure to 

 the ravages of the crayfish, muskrats and other 

 burrowing creatures, and the danger of the 

 earth sliding in early spring, when the frost 

 comes out of the ground. 



I cannot see that the advantages of natural 

 sides are equal to the disadvantages. A very 

 common practice is to construct the sides of 

 inch-boards nailed to stays of 2-by-4 lumber and 

 posts, and this does well if the lumber is given 

 a good coating of tar when first built, renewed 

 every two or three years. Tar is harmless to 

 the fish when dried before the water is turned 

 in, and is a foe to many fungoids. Sides made 

 of lumber, however, are neither as sightly nor 

 as enduring as walls made of cement, which 

 is nearly as cheap as lumber and sometimes 

 cheaper. Occasionally, where the soil affords a 



