The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1910-06-23

those which float about freely both
on the surface and in the body of the
water. Many of the latter class, and
some of the most effective, are mi.
croscopic--so small that they cannot |
be seen by the naked eye. But what
they lack in size they make up in /
numbers. Others form a green scum |
on the surface of the water, while |
others again, like duckweed, cluster
| together and form a green mat, each |
plant sending down its tiny roots into |
the water, absorbing the soluble de- |
caying matter and using it to build |
up clean vegetable tissue.
| It is chiefly through the agency of
plant life that offensive soluble mat
ter is gradually removed and con-
verted into vegetable tissue and oXy-
gen. And here it may be well to
note a singular but very prevalent
fallacy in regard to the green scum
which is so often seen on filthy pools.
1t is no uncommon thing to hear the
scum blamed for the filth, the owner
of the pond being urged to remove IL
and "let daylight into the water"
Now, daylight is a very good thing,
and 1t acts as a most efficient cleanser,
but it does so most thoroughly when
it acts through the medium of active
plant growth. Falling on the green
plants which form the scum, sunlight
acco mplishes many times tie puri-
flying work that it can do when it
, | oh Tho and
, is absorbed by the black mud at the
, bottom. In all such cases aquatic
plants OF every kind, from the often
, sive green scum to the beautiful
water lily, grow and flourish because
) the water is so filthy that it affords
= them the nourishment that they re-
: uuire. The filthy water is the cause
Of the plant growth; the plant growth
is not the cause of the filthy water.
= It is natures effort to utilize matter
: which otherwise would be not only
{ useless but deleterious. And remem-
, Der that the moist dirt or filth is not
. essentially evil. 1t is only matter in
E the wrong place. Put 1t in the right
! place and 1t will do good work, build
o ing UP most effectively delicious yege-
h tables, like celery, asparagus and
n fruits like strawberries and raspber-
S ries.
g In this connection, a point which
{ deserves special attention is the fact
A that the oxygen given off by plants
s under the influence of sunlight is in
o a peculiar condition known as the
L. nascent state Oxygen in this condi-
+ ton is much more active than ordin-
airy oxygen. This is we'll shown by
its bleaching power when fabrics are
spread on a fresh grass plot in bright
q sunlight. Every washerwoman knows
. that an hours sunshine aided by a
= good grass plot will do more in the
y way of bleaching linen than half a
: days sunshine when the clothes are
hung on the line. Now, as fast as
the oxygen is liberated by the plant
it is dissolved in the water and oxi
; dies or destroys most of the organic
a impurities present.
- A very important characteristic o
II this dissolved oxygen is that it SEEM
:, to be destructive to bacteria and mi
!. crobes. Whether this result is du'
to the removal of the food of thes'
y organisms or to a positive deleteriou
: action upon them may be a debatabl'
. . question: the probability is that l
i. acts in both directions. So obviou
" Is this action, however, that 1t ha
been claimed that If a quantity o
: sewage is poured into a stream of SUI
>; fcient size 1t will all disappear in tn
~ course of two or three-mile flow.
'e Most aquatic insect larvae subsis
-, upon the microscopic plants whic
o. they find in the water they inhabi'
though some of them, such as thos
- Of the dragon fly, are fiercely carniV
~ orous. They tend by the decay @
w. their dead bodies to render the wate
~, ~, impure, and where man exercises an
. control they should be kept down a
Ia' far as possible.
Is The best assistants in this directio
IS. are small fish. Large fish are utterl
air worthless for this purpose, as the
W are not sufficiently active and the
,e. prefer larger game than small larva
nd Indeed, the food of most Of the larg
ad fish consists chiefly of small fish
,o- sometimes those of their own specie
,e- A few dozen minnows from .oue
ale three inches in length will extermii
nd ate all the mosquito larvae in a goo
lso sized pond and will do little towar
mic defling the water. But dozen perc
he or two or three pickerel will SOC
oil