|
They grow rather rapidly and will
defeat their own ends if overcrowded.
A dozen roots or so of frogbit and a portion
of duckweed, azolla or another of the floating
plants will be required.
Then for the oxygenating plants ; these
will be planted in the shallow part at intervals
of about two feet. Here again the wild pond
will provide the necessary plants. A word
of warning is necessary regarding ' wild '
plants ; they may harbour a multitude of
tiny creatures, some of which are useful,
but some may be definitely harmful, such as
leeches, parasitic worms, larvae of water
beetles, etc., and the dreaded blanket-weed.
This grows in dense masses of fine silky threads
and will, in time, entirely choke the pond.
A tiny piece of a single strand is sufficient to
start it off, and once started it is difficult
to eradicate. If it has taken hold in the pond
there is nothing to do but to empty it, remove
the fishes, snails, etc., and thoroughly disinfect
with permanganate of potash or a solution of
copper sulphate. Copper sulphate will injure
the plants if the solution is at all strong, so
if this chemical is used the plants should be
removed also.
To prevent the intrusion of this undesirable
weed, all plants taken from the country
should be well washed under the tap and
placed for an hour in a weak solution of
permanganate of potash.
For the margin of the pool there are a host
of delightful plants from which to choose,
and details of these, with instructions for planting, and of the other aquatic plants are
given in Chapter V.
The number of fishes should not be excessive.
An old rule, and a good one, is an inch of
fish, excluding the tail, to a gallon of water.
That is the maximum and above that the fishes
will not thrive.
The pond under consideration will hold
something over 500 gallons of water and will
support, then, a hundred fishes five inches
in length, or a larger or smaller number
according to the length of the fishes.
I would suggest a dozen Golden Orfe, two
inches in length ; the smaller specimens are
so much cheaper and they grow rapidly.
Fifty goldfish can be purchased in assorted
sizes from two inches to six inches in length,
two dozen minnows or more if required, two
tench and the same number of either catfish
or thunderfish will be sufficient for a start.
Fishes in a well balanced pond have a prejudice
in favour of growing, besides if the pond is
stocked to its limits at first there will be no
room for additions.
|
