The Wilmington morning star., 1945-04-09
Carolina Farm Comment
BY F. H. JETER

JETER
j, such supplement are needed. Then,
too, the average farm family is
working mighty hard these days. A
fish pond furnishes recreation be.
cause no one fails to respond to
the thrill Of hooking even a small
one.
| Valuable as these farm ponds
are for the food supply provided,
they are equally as valuable for
the water supply impounded. Those
of US who live on the land know
what happens nearly every sum-
mer, especially in the piedmont
and upper coastal plain. Farms
with a well located pond usually
have satisfactory supply of wa
ter no matter how severe the
drouth. I have seen tobacco farm
ers patiently dipping water from
some small hole in creek or
from the edge Of the highway
where a stream passes under it.
If these men had built a pond on
their own farms, they could have
secured the water with less trou-
BILE and with, what is more impor-
tant in the tobacco season, less
loss of valuable time. Soil men tell
me that supply of ponds over this
State would tend to raise the wa
ter level so that we would not
suffer so much from dry weather
and consequently would get better
growth Of our ordinary field
crops.
But as important as these fish
ponds are to the human food sup
ply and as water supply for crops,
they reach their highest impor-
lance on the livestock farm. The
livestock man who has a good
pasture, kept in a high state OF
production by limestone and phos-
pilates, and who has well-es-
tablished sod Of clovers and grass
es, knows full well the value of a
pond. I saw lots of these ponds
last June in a trip through the
livestock section of Kansas and
again last August in trip through
Oklahoma and West Texas, saw
them as life-savers for the beet
cattle that Craze the sparse vege-
tation of that latter area. The peo-
pie in both areas are building
more ponds because they realize
that they must do something to
help Nature keep up the water
table on this bare land. AS our own
lands are denuded of our trees,
we ought to come to the same idea
and should give this added aid in
stopping the swift flow Of our rain
fall to the rivers.
There are four steps in building
farm pond. First an earthen
dam is needed to plug the drain
ageway and to hold the run-off
water in a pond of the desired
size or capacity, Next, a spillway
should be build around the side OF
this dam so as to take care OF
heavy floods that might wash the
dam away. Third, so-called
trickle tube is needed to take care
of the small overflows, especially
the prolonged trickle from continu.
Gus wet weather such as we have
in winter. Then, where there are
livestock, and every farm should
have livestock, watering tank
should be built below the dam to
receive water piped from the pond
In other words, do not allow the
cows or mules to pollute the pond
but fence it off and sod its banks
with grasses and then fix tank
down below for the livestock. This
will permit the pond to be used
for fish culture and for swimming
parties at the same time that it is
performing a useful service for
the farm. To have such pond does
not cost so very much, and when
it is properly maintained, is a
great joy and convenience.
|
| MI L. I,