. CHOOSING A LOCATION. 27 







tated as closely as possible. Four feet is the least 

 fall which will render the ground suitable for the 

 construction of trout ponds. 



From the influx of surface-water more loss has 

 probably been sustained by pisciculturists than 

 from any other cause. "My banks have been 

 again carried away by a freshet," is the cry of too 

 many sufferers, and no accident is more difficult 

 to prevent than this. All streams are liable to 

 freshets ; and for this reason, as well as others to 

 be mentioned in a succeeding chapter, a spring 

 supply is greatly to be preferred. A properly- 

 constructed trout pond should not become muddy 

 during the heaviest rain storm. By a proper 

 system of ditching, or the construction of guard 

 banks, in many locations the surface water can 

 be kept out ; but too frequently the lay of the 

 ground renders it impossible to construct them 

 without great expense,. and sites which possess all 

 other advantages are unavailable for trout ponds. 

 The best tuaterial for the construction of pond 

 banks is, beyond all doubt, clay ; but this is not 

 always to be met with. Much labor and expense, 

 however, is saved if it is found upon the spot, 

 though good banks can and have been made with 

 other material. Yet in case several locations, 

 otherwise similar, being offered to the seeker for a 

 pond site, it would be well to investigate the na- 



