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| Building and Stocking the Farm Pond |
Lotus
The huge blooms and leaves of the lotus are especially beautiful in
the open, semiwild setting of a farm pond. Some species are difficult
to get started in a pond but, once established, they are even more difficult to curb. For this reason, plant lotus tubers in boxes and tubs which
will restrict spreading.
Border Plants
Many tall sedges and rushes (as described in Chapter 12) are spreaders, but need not be ruled out as a means of beautifying a farm pond.
Indeed, it would be a pity to overlook some of the spectacular effects
they can provide. Some of these will spread only along the edge of the
pond, where they can easily be controlled by cutting. Others will move
only into the very shallow water along the shore. All can be kept under
close control, if you wish, by planting in containers.
Fertilizing
If you are to have a productive pond for fish or plants or both, you
must use fertilizer. Fertilizer, in addition to feeding major plants, also
supports the growth of algae and other suspended growths. These, in
turn, support a variety of minute animal life, on which fish feed.
A commercial mineral fertilizer is much to be preferred to manure,
blood meal, or other organic fertilizer, which encourage the development of unsightly scum.
For the best fertilizer for your pond, seek advice from your local Soil Conservation representative. It will depend on
what you want to grow, what section of the country you live in, and
various other factors.
At Three Springs Fisheries, we satisfactorily support both plant and
fish in our ponds with a 10 (nitrogen)-10 (superphosphate)-10 (pot-
ash) mixture, using 1,000 pounds to the acre. When we have drained
a pond for cleaning or repair, we broadcast this fertilizer directly on the
pond floor and then work it into the soil before refilling the pond.
Fertilizer can also be broadcast on the surface of the water from a
rowboat. This is best done, of course, at a time when the runoff
is not heavy enough to carry away most of the nourishment you have
scattered.
Stocking with Fish
If you want to add goldfish to a farm pond for decorative effect, you
must stock heavily so there will be enough of them to see, also enough
to reproduce fast enough to replace the hundreds of small fish lost
through the spillways after every rainstorm heavy enough to cause a
runoff.
Goldfish, in the freedom of large, seminatural ponds, often grow to
the length of a foot or more. They can be attracted close enough to the
shore line to be seen and enjoyed by establishing a few of the prettier
spots as feeding locations.
The pond owner will have to make up his mind, however, whether
he wants goldfish or game fish, for the goldfish are soon devoured if
the two are put in together.
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