TEOUT PONDS 101 



used to prevent an undue quantity of water 

 from leeching through and escaping; and my 

 advice is to cover the artificial bottoms in such 

 cases with at least six inches of heavy gravel. 



There may be rare instances, where, in dig- 

 ging ponds, an area of ooze-mud of considerable 

 depth is encountered, greater than can be re- 

 moved. In such a contingency, dig the pond a 

 foot or two deeper, and then dump in many 

 loads of coarse gravel, sufficient to make an 

 even layer at least a foot thick. This will prob- 

 ably settle and bind in a few days, and make 

 a fairly firm bottom. This, of course, need not 

 be done where a bottom can be floored with con- 

 crete or boards. 



Indeed, the bottoms of all ponds should be 

 well graveled, but care must be exercised that 

 none of the stones are larger, say, than a man's 

 fist or projecting much above the ordinary level. 

 There are two reasons for this, first, an irreg- 

 ular bottom is hard to draw, and second, with 

 large projecting stones there is danger that 

 after a severe thunderstorm the fish-culturist 

 may find that he has lost a large number of his 

 trout. 



