THE INHABITANTS OF THE PONDS: FISH; AND AQUATIC FOWLS, INCLUDING SWANS, EXOTIC GEESE AND DUCKS.--INHABITANTS OF THE WOODS: INCLUDING PHEASANTS AND PARTRIDGES, HERONS AND BITTERNS.--AVIARY.--APIARY, AND THE MANAGEMENT OF BEES.--SILK-WORMS.
When a fish-pond is to be made, a situation should be chosen where there is a natural hollow, so that the ground which is to form the bottom of the pond may be as little disturbed as possible. If this situation be near a river so that a feeder may be led into it, nothing else is wanted to form a fish-pond but an embankment and a sluice, and these you must have made by persons used to such employments. It is necessary, however, to take care that the pond is fed from a river, as spring water is not only too cold for the fish, but is seldom quite free from mineral substances. The pond should be made at least six feet deep, and if twelve feet or more it will be better for the fish: as in frosty weather they will remain near the bottom, and will find enough air in the great body of water above them to enable them to live a long time after the surface is frozen over; while, on the contrary, if the pond be shallow, the fish will soon exhaust all the air it contains, and will perish unless the ice be frequently broken, to admit air from the atmosphere. In shallow ponds, also, the rushes and other weeds grow so fast as to occasion considerable expense and trouble in having them cleared away.
The extent of a pond must depend upon circumstances, but it should never be less than five or six acres, and as much more as is convenient; in shape it should be rather long, as regards the front of the mansion, than broad, and its outline should either be varied, or broken by planting trees and shrubs in small groups on its banks. Where ponds are intended solely for fish, without regard to their appearance in the landscape, their banks should be quite straight, and their shape square or oblong. The pond, whether ornamental or not, may be divided into two parts by an embankment in the centre, which is kept about two feet below the general surface of the water when the pond is full. The use of this is, that, when the pond is to be run dry, either for clearing it of its mud or catching the larger fish, only one half need be emptied at a time; and the other half may serve as a place to put the store fish in while the first division is being cleared out; and, when that is quite clean and the water let into it again, the fish may be transferred to it while the second half is being cleared. Of course, according to this arrangement, there must be a wooden sluice for letting off the water in each division. The beauty of a pond depends principally upon its being well supplied with water, and this constant supply can only be insured during the summer months, by having a brook or rivulet running through the pond. Where the pond is of sufficient size, there should be an island or two for the swans and other aquatic birds to make their nests on.