The Wilmington morning star., 1946-10-14
Carolina Farm Comment
BY F. H. JETER

W L
again of farm fish ponds. Ono NJ
my Raleigh friends took 2. trim
curing the summer and, being an
lnveterate fisherman, he naturally
began to notice the msnv new
tlsh ponds in all part of the pied.
mont as he took his vacation trim
towards the mountains. He talked
10 a number of folks about the
PONDS and found them happy about
having this new recreational tea.
ture added to their farms. Renorts
indicate that there will be no less
enlng OF interest in the ponds this
year. New ones are being built
constantly, and the farmers find
ma not only do the ponds add
llsn put they furnish a needed
supply OF fresh water. They add
beauty to the farmstead, and thew
are fine to have on rot summer
evenings when one has worked
hard all day in the fields.
W. c. Boyce, Franklin county
sou conservationist, says owners
OF 1lsh ponds in that county are
1ertlllzing them to increase the
crop of fish. S. V. Hill and D. C.
Hlcks used 200 pounds of high
analysis fertilizer, followed by 50
pounds OF nitrate of soda. lust as
II they had been growing a corn
crop IN the old days. The surface
OF these ponds covers slightly over
one acre. The two ponds were
stocked only last fall, but fish
nave been observed during the
summer which would weigh as
lnuch as one pound each. The
purpose of the fertilizing is to
cause the water to produce more
1000 for the fish. AS the fish in
food.
IN Guilford county, G. T. Rum.
icy Of the Madison township says
ne VIII construct the ideal farm
1lsh pond this fall. The entire wa
ter line around his pond will be
eXcavated to a depth of two feet
SO as to provide for good fish
Ing over the entire area. Then
after the dam has been completed.
ne will run terraces So as to d.
vert all surplus water from the
crop land, within the drainage
area, away from the pond. The
water supply for the pond comes
from a strong spring with a lit
ne extra surface water draining
from a patch of woods and some
pasture land. Mr.. Rum1ey will
lertlllze his pond, and he is get
ing his stock of bass and Dream
from the fish and wildlife service
through the local Haw River Soil
Conservation district.
S. R. Clanard of the Oak View
section in Guilford completed his
pond in early August. It is located
only about 200 yards from his
nome and about one-half of the
o-acre watershed draining into the
pond IS in woodland. The other
half. in open land, is terraced. Mr..
Cllnard is arranging a crop TO-
tatlon SO that the slit will not wash
down into the pond, filling it up
and running it. ]. r. Warf of Sum-
merfield, route l. built a pond
about a year ago, and says he
sees the need right now for bet
ter terracing and more careful
disposal OF the water washing down
from the nearby cultivated fields.
Ihlrty-six thousand small blue
gill Dream were delivered in early
September to Guilford farmers in
the Haw River Soil district. These
So 200 blue-gill Dream were planted
IN 46 acres of farm ponds. Bass
Will be added to each one next
spring to complete the stocking,
and the owneres say they will
1ertlllze their ponds next summer
to increase the food supply in the
water.
George Setliffe and Ira Powell
of the Oregon Hill community,
and A. j. Martin of the Stephens
Cross Roads section of Rocking.
ham county, received fish for thei1
ponds In middle September. R. A.
Baughan of the Dan Valley section
has just completed a small pond
for fish production and for supply
ing fresh water for his livestock.
AS o as he had completed his
dam, Mr.. Baughan Immediately
seeded it and all exposed areas
around the pond to a mixture
OF redtop, orchard grass, dallis
grass, and a small amount Of
white Dutch clover.
In all, about rs farm ponds were
built in Rockingham county this
summer, and while this. is quite
a good record, the local farmers
say they will continue to build as
they have the opportunity.
Alamance farmers, in the Haw
River district, also have been busy
building ponds. The ponds will be
stocked next spring. Henry Thiel,
soil conservation specialist in Ala
nance county, reports that $1,000
Dream were delivered to twelve
good farmers just recently. Bass
will be delivered to these same
pond owners come the spring.