64 GOLDFISH VARIETIES AND 
petus to the production of live fish food. For aesthetic reasons it would 
be well to weight the carcass down with stones. 
The plan of this system of pools does not call fer running water, but 
only to admit it as needed. It will be seen that an overflow is provided 
to carry off the surplus from the tempering pond, this finally discharging 
into the natural brook from the spring, or into any other place capable of 
carrying it off. 
By this plan of having one pool drain into another, instead of dis- 
charging into a general overflow, we have an added chance of saving 
fishes in case of an overflow or accident to the sluices. 
Unless a spring is known to be thoroughly dependable at all times, 
the possibility of securing water from other sources should be considered 
in the beginning, particularly as most establishments of the kind now 
being described are constructed only on clay bottoms, where a certain 
amount of water is sure to be lost through seepage. 
If the soil has no natural clay bottom, the hole should be dug 6 inches 
lower than the intended depth of pool, say 20 inches in all. Now mix pure 
clay with water in a mixing box and spread on bottom and sides to a 
depth of 6 inches. To secure the sides in this manner they will have to 
slope gradually. It is better to make the sides of cypress boards and 
puddle the clay in back of them. These had best be sloped at a slight 
angle, about 2 inches to a 14-inch board. Even when soil is mostly of 
clay, there is often serious loss of water near the top on account of the 
more porous earth. 
One very important consideration in all outdoor ponds or pools is 
the possibility of serious loss through freshets. Not only does the pool 
itself have a tendency to overflow in a protracted downpour, but drainage 
from higher portions of ground is liable to sweep over low ponds. The 
latter danger can be overcome by having ample trenches dug on the sides 
exposed to such risk, and seeing that they in turn drain off where the 
water will do no harm. In regard to direct overflow it is a good plan to 
have extra screened outlets in each pool at a point a little higher than the 
regular outlet, which is of course also screened according to the sizes of 
fishes contained. Another point is to have a safety factor by not filling to 
within 3 inches of the top. That is to say the regular drain should be 
placed at that level. The importance of the danger of flood ina system of 
this kind cannot be emphasized too strongly, and unless the point is care- 
fully provided for in the beginning, trouble is bound to ensue, and serious 
trouble. 
An advantage of the tempering pool is that fishes can be kept in it 
over Winter. Fishes bring better prices in the latter part of the Winter, 
and one of the serious problems of the wholesaler is how he shall carry a 
