48 FISH FARMING: 



once flowed only a brook. Note, also 1 , there is plenty of 

 shade. The proprietor does not mind the* extra trouble with 

 fallen lea-yes ; he knows sio' well the value of shade. 



And now just a few concluding remarks, and I have finished 

 with the formation of ponds and lakes. Where you have no 

 fear from flood, a. surplus water channel is only necessary if 

 the fall in the ground do'es not permit of any other means of 

 lowering the ponds right out, and then it takes the form of 

 what I have termed a surplus water drain, in order to -dis- 

 tinguish the latter from a surfa.ce channel. This, I hope, is 

 made perfectly clear in the drawings. But where a flood is 

 probable be sure to have your surplus water channel of suffi- 

 cient dimensions 1 to carry off quite easily thei greatest volume 

 of water that is at all likely to come down. If your ponds are 

 in a position much exposed to the sun in summer time, keep 

 them as deep as possible. Under any circumstances, grow 

 plenty of aquatic plants of the right variety of which more 

 in the proper place. In the case of making use of an existing 

 pond and improving it after the manner I have shown, be sure 

 of the history of that pond before you start the work. If there 

 are no fish in it, find out why before you start to stock it, for 

 the latter, from unalterable circumstances, may be an impossi- 

 bility. When starting to make a pond, be sure you have fixed 

 on the most suitable situation possible, and make sure of your 

 levels to begin with. You need not necessarily make ai pr.nd 

 just off a stream or river; more favourable conditions may 

 exist half ai mile away, and it may be better to cut a. supply 

 channel that distance, especially as this channel may be 

 utilised for supplying fry and yearling ponds en route. By 

 an exercise of some common sense in this connection much time 

 and money may be saved. Here, perhaps 1 , a dam, sluice, or 

 screen can be erected with most satisfactory results, and with 

 the minimum amount of expense ; a little further on the result 

 would probably be quite different. Don't expect water to run 

 up hill ! Give as much fall as possible from pond to pond 

 where you form a series of them, and be sure that your surplus 

 water channels and surplus' water drains have plenty of fall. 



