«w to Manage Your Farm Pond for Maximum Enjoyment
11
An attractive pond which
yields plenty of good-sized fish
and provides enjoyable swim
ming or 'boating.
That should be the goal of the
farm pond owner, but it’s a goal
which can’t be achieved by sim
ply building the pond and for
getting it.
Too many ponds have major
problems such as algae and
weeds out of control, muskrat in
festation and unbalanced fish
populations. All these problems
exist because of lack of proper
mangemnt, acording to Max
THE ABOVE BUTLER BINS ARE TWO OF MANY WHICH
WE HAVE RECENTLY CONSTRUCTED THROUGHOUT
LANCASTER COUNTY.
THE CAPACITY OF THE ABOVE BINS ARE AS FOLLOWS.
M. K. HOKE Est. Inc.
148 So. Main Street, Manheim, Pa.
Smith, Lancaster County ag
agent.
An attractive and productive
farm pond, like most of the
other benefits of farm life, re
quires careful management, he
added.
At three farm pond meetings
earlier this summer attended by
himself, some state fish officials
and about 50 farm pond owners.
Smith said the following points
were stressed:
Control muskrats. Use stones
along the bank to keep them
from burrowing and plug holes
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• 10,000 BU. STORAGE
• DRYING CAPACITY 1500 BU. PER HOUR
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highest quality satisfaction guaranteed.
SEE US TODAY FOR DETAILS ON THE NEW BUTLER BINS.
that do appear with clay and
stone to discourage muskrats.
—Maintain a proper balance or
fish species.
Smith noted that many ponds
have too many bluegills, result
ing in small sized bluegills and
even elimination of other species.
This is true because bluegills re
produce so rapidly they over
populate the pond quickly. This
can be controlled by stocking a
high ratio of bass to bluegills—
or don’t use bluegills at all.
The commendation used to
be to stock 100 bass to 1,000 blue
gills. Now the recommendation is
LOO bass to the acre, along with
400 golden shiners or 400 fat
head minnows.
Once a pond is stocked with
fish, the balance must continue to
be maintained. For this reason,
heavy fishing is recommended.
With a bass-bluegill program, re
move about 15 pounds of blue
gills for each pound of bass.
—Conrol algae and weeds after
securing permits Treatment
probably will be necessary sev
eral times during the growing
season.
Phone 665-2266
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 17, 1971—11
Smith urged farmers to apply
for a permit from the Fish Com
mission before treating a pond
for algae or weeds. The permit
is available at the Extension of
fice or from the Pennsylvania
Waterway Patrolman (formerly
known as fish warden) Charles
A. Prinze, Lititz RD2.
While there is no penalty at
the present time for failure to
have a permit, in event of a mis
hap downstream resulting from
the pond treatment, the permit
likely would be important pro
tection for the farmer, Smith ex
plained.
Assisting Smith and Prinz in
recent meetings with farmers
v/as David Daniels, of the Penn
sylvania Fish Commission.
—Practice farm pond safety by
having rescue equipment at the
pond. The equipment should be
at the site ready for use and not
in a nearby building. Equipment
should include long boards, wood
en ladders, rope, and inflated in
ner tube
—Keep livestock out of the
pond. Besides being detrimental
to recreational uses such as
swimming, the animals trample
down the pond banks.
To achieve good algae and
weed control, the water must be
fairly deep, 18 inches or more,
very near the bank. But animals
using a pond gradually push fill
into this area near the bank, ihak
ing the water shallow and more
subject to algae and weeds,
Smith explained
—Fertilize the pond with a
complete fertilizer such as 10-10-
10 to encourage growth of plank
ton which gives the water a
greenish color and prevents sun
light from penetrating to the
bottom of the pond.
Clear water in a pond is not
to be encouraged, bcause the
sunlight penetrates, resulting in
growth of algae and weeds. The
pond “with clear water is head
ed for trouble,” Smith stated.
Farmers Urged
To Maintain
The Lancaster County ASC
office is urging farmers to re
turn acreage cards which have
been mailed to'them in order to
preserve future wheat and corn
acreage history.
So far in response to the first
mailing, only about 2,000 farm
ers, or about one-third of the
6,000 total, have replied. A
second mailing is being sent out.
Miss Dorothy Neel, ASC exe
cutive director, stated that far
mers not interested in participa
ting in the federal feed programs
this year should still maintain
their allotments in order to be
eligible if market conditions
change in the future.
Cards were mailed to all far
mers not enrolled in the wheat
and feed grain programs, asking
them to report the 1971 crop
acreages
Failure to return the card by
July 26, means that a “zero”
acreage will be recorded for
wheat and corn for 1971. This
will reduce the corn base and
wheat allotment by 20 per cent
for 1972.
Acreage not reported will re
duce the wheat and corn acre
age history for the individual
farm and also mean loss of crop
history for the county Miss Neel
' explained.
“All fanners, regardless of
whether they are interested in
farm programs or not, should
complete and return the acreage
report card.” she said.
Wheat, Corn
Acre History