CHAPTER II. 
FISH PONDS——CULTIVATION. 
Plants—Balance of life—Flora and fauna—Old ponds require cleaning—Pond 
life—Its bearing on fish life—Cultivation—Conditions of soil—Planting—New 
ponds—Virgin waters— Whitley reservoir—Importance of mollusca and crustaceans 
—Aquatic plants—Dalbeathe reservoir—Lock Fern—Plants to avoid— Weeding— 
Anacharis—Marginal plants. 
M ANY people seem to think that all that fish require is plenty 
of water, but they must have a good supply of suitable food, 
or they will starve or become stunted in growth, like any other 
members of the animal kingdom. Food, be it remembered, is a 
necessity, and without a reasonable quantity of it, it is impossible 
to maintain a good head of trout. Fortunately we have the means 
within our reach of producing it in large quantities. The creatures 
on which trout chiefly feed are, directly or indirectly, dependent 
for their existence on vegetation, therefore it becomes absolutely 
necessary to have a proper selection of water plants present. 
There is undoubtedly a great future for some at least of our 
fisheries, but that future need not be looked for so long as such 
matters of importance are ignored. A farmer might just as well 
expect his land to provide handsomely without being cultivated or 
fertilized. Some natural waters on being stocked for the first time 
give results beyond expectation for awhile, but then follows a 
great falling off in their yield—like the virgin soil of the Western 
prairies, these waters soon become used up, so to speak. 
It has been observed that where artificial ponds have been 
made by embanking, and the sod has not been removed, or only 
to a limited extent, that many of the grasses and other plants have 
not been immediately killed, but have survived for a period, and 
even for awhile become more luxurious in growth. While this 
