THK A.V<;LKi: AXJ) HTXTSAl AX 103 



their native waters and merely pressed into the soft 

 soil in the shallow sections of the new pond. During 

 the planting process the bottom of the pond should be cov- 

 ered with water to a depth of 6 inches. Plants may be 

 started in the deep-water sections of a pond by attaching 

 them to a weight and sinking them at the desired spot. 



"In many parts of the country the aquatic vegetation 

 in a pond forms such a dense growth in the summer months 

 that the removal of a portion of it once or twice during the 

 season becomes imperative. If the pond is drained for 

 this purpose, the water should be drawn down slowly and 

 the vegetation carefully raked into piles with a garden rake 

 as it appears above the surface, the operator wading out to 

 it in rubber boots. In the event that the pond is drawn 

 late in the fall for seining, not more of the vegetation should 

 be removed than is absolutely necessary to permit the work 

 in hand, as the growth serves to protect the fish during the 

 winter months. 



Stocking the Pond: 



"When handling fish for stocking a pond, no time is 

 to be lost in making the transfer. Immediately on re- 

 ceipt of the consignment, compare the water temperature 

 in the shipping cans with that of the pond, and if there is 

 a difference of as much as five degrees proceed gradually 

 to equalize the two, by pouring water from the pond into 

 the cans, being careful not to subject the fish to a sudden 

 change in temperature. 



"Unless the pond is several acres in area it will not be 

 necessary to scatter the fish at different points, as they 

 will soon scatter throughout its extent. When the intro- 

 duced stock consists of, say 10,000 small fish from 2 to 5 

 inches in length, they should be able, in a pond an acre in 

 area and properly stocked w r ith aquatic vegetation, to find 

 sufficient natural food for their sustenance until they have 

 attained the yearling stage, thus obviating artificial feed- 

 ing; but the natural food in ponds varies so greatly that 



