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at Weston. Set on the bottom with a large piece of clay in the centre, a tuft of the plant will grow up compactly; and the sight of the fish clustering together in the shadow thrown by this light green pillar of interwoven foliage, as it sways gently with the current, is one to gladden the heart of the breeder. Water lake-wort and water lobelia are also excellent plants for the ponds. So is common watercress, especially for the shallower parts.

In addition to water-vegetation natural food may be introduced with advantage, especially into new ponds. Almost all the forms of pond life are very prolific, and will be found to increase with great rapidity. The common water-snail (Limnaea Peregra) is a great favourite with trout. But it is Gammarus Pulex, the freshwater shrimp, which takes the palm. 'I would leave no stone unturned to introduce them in large numbers,' said Francis Francis. 'When I have found it to exist in any quantity I have invariably observed the trout are of fine size, and in unusually good condition.'

This was written thirty-four years ago. At the end of July 1897, I received a letter from a friend in which, referring to a consignment of yearling rainbow trout sent to him only six or seven months previously, he says: They have thriven magnificently, and

some of them now are not far short of 3 lb. in weight. It is an interesting fact that those which inhabit the bed of the old brook, the waters of which have been raised by dams and which swarm with freshwater shrimps, are almost as pink as salmon, while those which have been placed in a stream which runs through a newly made bed, and which are more dependent than the others on the fly, are nearly pale yellow. This seems to bear out what Francis Francis used to say as to pink flesh being due to freshwater shrimp.'

My correspondent's observation also furnishes a striking commentary on a passage in Walton's 'Complete Angler,' 'If I catch a trout in one meadow, he shall be white and faint, and as certainly if I catch a trout in the next meadow, he shall be strong and red, and lusty, and much better meat.'

One more word before I take leave of Gammarus Pulex. He follows a humble but useful calling, which has endeared him to the fish-culturist. He is an indefatigable scavenger.

Trout-water can also be usefully stocked with the larvæ of various insects which are more familiar to us in the winged stage of their existence. At the head of the list of these larvæ you will not be surprised to find that of an old familiar friend, the Mayfly.

GROWING THE YEARLINGS AND

TWO-YEAR-OLDS

Shortly before removing the fry from the rearingboxes, the ponds which are to receive the little tenants should be headed up, but only to the height of about a foot and a half. I do not think it is a good plan to head up the ponds long beforehand, because time would then be given for the weed to grow up. Useful as it will prove at a later stage for harbouring snails, shrimps, &c., when the fry have grown big enough to eat them, water-vegetation is not desirable just at this critical juncture. The fry are not yet big enough to 'assimilate' the snails and shrimps, and there is great danger lest the timid little creatures should, when first liberated, conceal themselves in the weeds with the inevitable result-starvation.

When everything is ready for their reception, the fry must be removed from the rearing-boxes, and put in possession of their more spacious and dignified abode. It has often been observed that young fish are keenly sensitive to the influences of wind and temperature, and certainly it is not a good plan to turn out fry when there is a bitterly cold wind blowing. Especially is this so if the situation of your pond is such that the surface of the water is exposed to the wind prevailing at the time.

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