CARE AND BREEDING OF TROUT

"The water, more productive than the earth, Nature's store-house, in which she locks up her wonders, is the eldest daughter of the creation, the element upon which the spirit of God did first move."—Izaak Walton.

Transporting Trout.—To bring your fish home, first clean them carefully, taking pains to remove that little dark blood streak along the backbone. Then, after wiping them dry, pack them in ferns, separately, and free from ice. Never send your fish home by express; take them with you. A box cannot be checked on the train. Use an old packing trunk. In this you can also transport your heavy outfit—wading boots, oilskins, landing-net, etc.

Trout in Captivity.—Trout in artificial ponds should be fed three or four times a week in the winter time during the very warmest part of the day. There is no natural food in artificial ponds, and feeding is necessary in order to keep the big fish from eating their small companions. In natural trout ponds fed by springs so much care need not be exercised in winter. Air holes need not be cut in any ice that may form, as the springs afford a proper temperature, and but little food, if any, need be given the fish.

Killing the Trout.—Kill your trout the instant they are landed; don't let them suffer slow death. The game deserves humane treatment, and the meat tastes better by quick killing.

Trout Destroyers.—Eels are ruinous to trout. They eat trout spawn, and they should be removed from all trout waters.

Live Frozen Trout.—Trout packed in ice for several days and carried forty miles by stagecoach and two hundred and fifty miles by railway (Feb., 1914) from the State of Washington to Montana, says the Lewiston Democrat of Butte, Montana, came to life and swam spryly when placed in a tank of water at the end of their journey—Hennessy's meat store at Butte.

Water Plants.—Aquatic plants, besides affording protection and shade to the fishes, supply oxygen to the water.

Growth of Trout.—"Mr. Tomkin of Polgaron put some small river trout, 2-1/2 inches in length, into a newly made pond. He took some of them out the second year, above twelve inches in length; the third year, he took one out of sixteen inches in length; and the fourth year, one of twenty-five inches in length: this was in 1734."—Carew's Survey of Cornwall.

Ducks Eat Trout.—Arthur A. Woodford and S. W. Eddy, of Avon, Conn., say that ducks eat trout and destroy the trout's breeding places by digging in the banks along the ponds and streams.