MI FISH-PONDS, PLEACHING, ARBOURS 145 



be wanted for the table. A slow stream of 

 running water kept the fish-pond fresh, and at 

 one end was formed a ''stew," or small tank, 

 to keep the fish that were netted. Markham 

 describes the formation of a fish-pond in some 

 detail (Cheape and Good Husbandries book ii., 

 London 1638). First drain your ground and 

 bring all the water to one head or main reser- 

 voir. From this you form your canal to supply 

 the pond. The sides of the canal are to be 

 formed with piles, 6 feet long and 6 inches 

 square, of oak, ash, or elm, to be driven in in 

 rows and the earth well rammed behind them. 

 You then form the sides of your pond with 

 sloping banks covered with large sods of plot 

 grass laid close and pinned down with small 

 stakes. "On one side you are to stake down 

 Bavens or faggots of brushwood for the fish to 

 spawn in, and some sods piled up for the 

 comfort of the eels, and if you stick sharp 

 stakes slantwise by every side of the pond that 

 will keep thieves from robbing them." To 

 explain his advice, Markham gives "a platform 

 for ponds" (reproduced in the text), which 

 shows a perfectly symmetrical arrangement of 

 a square with a triangular extension on the 

 entrance side. The walks between the canals 

 and ponds were to be planted with willows or 

 fruit-trees. Markham also describes another 

 method of dealing with marshy ground, by 

 which an orchard might be combined with a 



