74 Flow to obtain tt. 
as yet is quite open, except a couple of wooden straps which have 
been fixed across it in order to keep the whole affair together and 
prevent collapse of the two “sides.” The peculiarity about this 
“front” is, that the boards are not to be nailed on, but are to be 
quite loose. ‘They are kept in position by each of their ends 
Sliding into a groove which is formed to receive them, and being 
slipped into this groove one after another till all are in, it will be 
apparent that they close up the front side. A peg at each end of 
the uppermost board to keep it in its place, and a movable lid 
being made to cover up the top of the box, it is finished. The 
front boards will float at first when released, but a piece of lead 
nailed on each will settle this difficulty. 
Before the box is thus closed up, however, a plug should be 
fitted into the outlet pipe, and let this plug have fixed into it 
an iron ring or eye, which must be placed so as to stand out 
horizontally, and be ready at any time to receive the end of a 
lever, by means of which the plug is drawn. This lever may consist 
of a piece of larch or ash, and is in reality a boat hook. It must 
have a piece of wood nailed on to its side at a suitable distance 
from the bottom end, to act as a fulcrum when being used. It 
should be fitted and tested before the water is let on, so that there 
can be no doubt about its action when required to draw the plug 
in an emergency. The whole contrivance is so extremely simple 
and answers all purposes so well, that I have never desired any- 
thing better. The box can be built of brick, stone, or concrete, 
and, working on the same principle, can be used for a pond of any 
size. In the case of a large reservoir the use of massive stonework 
is desirable, and iron or other plates in “front.” Instead of 
working with a lever, the outlet pipe may be carried by means of 
a bend through the bottom of the box instead of the “back,” and 
the ring in the plug will then be perpendicular, enabling the latter 
to be drawn by means of a boat hook. 
Now, let us suppose the plug to be in, the pond full of water 
and fish, and that it is found needful to empty it. We go to the 
outlet armed with a lever, a long-handled garden rake, and a frame 
about three and a half feet square, on which is loosely stretched a 
piece of strong fine-meshed netting. Take off the lid of the out- 
let box, draw the pegs that keep the ‘‘front” boards secure, and 
