The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-08-27
Fish Ponds for Farmers.

lOf safe. might easily Dt uldut dCCCSSOTl
to the profits of the farm. On numerous
farms spring brooks and small streams or
rivers NAV be utilized for this purpose.
| On many others springs of pure cold wa
/ ter rise and flow over the surface, losing
| themselves in diSagreeabe if not injuri-
GUS swamp or Quagmire, which is trOdden
up by stock or wallOwed in by hogs to
/ their injury and their owners loss. In
many other farms again, at certain seasons
of the year, temporary water courses are
/ filled and pass large quantities of water 10
rivers or lakes into which it disappears.
By simple or cheaply constructed dams
/ these temporary streams of water might
/ be restrained and made TO yield perma-
nent supply of stock water and afford ia
ciities for the production of an ample sup
ply of fish. Trout, bass, perch, and pike,
all of which are excellent and valuable
/ fish. might be raised in ponds thus pre-
/ pared, while the homely but not unsavOry
catfish, the carp. and other secOnd-rate
| fish will live and thrive in such a pond as
might not unwOrthily be termed mud
/ hole. Thousands of swamps which have
no outlet, and which are at present quag-
mires, useless and dangerous, might be
/ dug out 10 depth of two or three fee5 and
the muck prOtitably used for fertiliZlng
/ fields and these swamps thus be changed
into ponds. every acre of which would
| furnish nutritious and acceptable food, at
| least three times a week, for family of
| ten persons. A case is known TO us in
which farmer in Pennsylvania thus util-
| lied thlee-quarters Ofan acre of bog, tax
! inc therefrOm over | 1000 loads of valuable
manure for his farm, and stocking the
pond thus made with young catfish pur-
chased for 81 % per 100 in Philadelphia.
In three years the pond was swarming
with fish. which fed themselves from the
abundant vegetable and insect food pres
ent in it, and it was at least some recrea-
ton for his bows to fish twice or thrice a
week for the general benefit. How many
cases in which the same plan might be
adapted present themselves TO the remem-
brance of our readers it would be difficult
to estimate: doubtless there are none but
know of some.
The difficulty in fish-raising is the mis-
taken idea that there needs some intricate
plan and scientific knowledge for success.
On the contrary, we have yet to learn of
the first scientifically conducted fish farm
or fish pond which has sent pound of
fish to market. But we know of several
persons entirely Ignorant of the science OF
| fish culture. and who never dreamed of the
complicated system of fish ways, spawn
| ing boxes, Matching boxes, feeding boxes,
and all the various paraphernalia of the
| fish culturist who writes books and sells
spawn, but yet who have eaten OF the pro-
/ duct of their own ponds, and who have
| fed young trout in a simple watering
! trough until they have reached the weight
of one pound each. And this success is
| certain to those who possess the requisite
| facilities, and will take the needful care
and precautions.
For trout the necessary requirements
are pure water, with a temperature of not
over coo in the summer time, a gravelly
bottom in places where the fish can make
their spawning beds, and a few deep holes
in which they can hide during the hot
days. All these conditions are met with
in a swamp with a subsOil of sand or
| gravel. through which occasional springs
| break: or such swamp through which
| the water of a spring brook can be turned
! by means of dam and gate. The muck
may be dug out in places~tO expose the
bottom, and the borders of the pond
should be sOwn with grass and aquatic
plants, and planted with willows. The
portion of vegetable matter left in the
pond, and the grass and neighbOring trees
Overhanging, will encourage the presence
of numerous insects, upon which the
trout will feed. 1t is necessary to provide
against overflow by freshets by permitting
only a certain quantity of water to flow
through the pond, and making room
for anv unusual quantity to escape
through the original bed of the stream.
If there is no danger of freShet,
the stream itself may be damned, and the
adjacent ground flooded. As soon as the
=, Thousand M tNVn
frv may be purchased in November or
December, and patience for two or three
wears will accomplish all the rest. The
great danger is OverstOcking, but with a
pond of an acre. to which few farmers
bows have access once a week, there will
tie little danger of crOwding the fish. The
next danger TO be avoided is erteedlng.
If the pond is stocked with minnOws or
other small fish, and few roots or lilies,
caltheas, or the common Water-hag, be
planted on the borders or shallow placeS
and some water-creSs seed / e SOwn in the
places where currents exist. a large growth
of aquatic insects and animalcul4 VIII
take place sufficient to support a large
number of fish.
Bass and perch will flourish under less
favorable circumstances than trout They
will not object to a muddy bottom, nor TO
water whose temperature for part OF the
wear may rise above 600, nor to water with
out any current passing through it for
some time. Temporary streams may be
dam ned for these fish, or ponds in which
there is only spring water enough 10 sup
DIV the evaporation will meet their needs.
A considerable supply of food may be
gathered from the Offal of the farm for
| these fish, and in a short time insects and
worms will accumulate in the pond, which
will furnish food. The necessary labor
and skill is so small, and the pleasure and
profit so great, from the culture OF fish,
| that it is only necessary to point out how 1t
NAV be readily undertaken to induce many
| farmers to experiment. lt is needful to
| follow natures ways as near as possible TO
! insure success, and it is not the least part
of the profit that tish-pOnd upon a farm
| will furnish a constant reservoir OF STOCK
water in seasons when water Is scarce.
| We don't advise any farmer to undertake
| the production of fish in any pond OF less
area than half an acre. 1t would be bet
ter that he should have one or two acres.
In the small, narrow, successive ponds
described in books and in the papers by
professional fish culturists, the fish must
depend altogether upon regular and con-
slant feeding. The time and care needed
for this would be altogether out of the
question upon a farm. Besides, in these
small ponds. the fish will devour each
other unless the large ones are separated
from the small ones, and even then some
will devOur the others. In large pond
this difficulty does not occur to any ex-
tent. But in those cases where rocky
gully with a rapid fall could be damned
so as to make a series Of smaller ponds oil
less than half an acre each, If these are
made to communicate by means OF short
falls the fish can pass from one to another
with facility, and will thrive as well as IN
one large pond.-Ner0 York Times.
THE Montgomery (Ky.) Republican thu;
discourses of the physical charms OF the
l.. e tknH tIraalkh y, w hllf