Brown Trout 



209 



loch is more than 12 feet deep the supply of food soon becomes 

 scarce and the trout small, while shallow lochs produce plenty of 

 food, therefore large trout. 



The altitude of a loch, too, has a good deal to do with the size 

 of the trout. Lochs 1000 feet above sea-level, fed from snow from 

 surrounding hills, produce very little feeding until May, and owing 



FIG. 2ii. 19 J Ibs., Killarney. April 1907. 



to the cold fall off in September, thus giving the trout only four 

 months of good feeding. On the other hand, lochs at or near sea- 

 level produce good feeding in March, and continue to do so till 

 October, so that the trout have seven months' good feeding, or 

 three months more than their Highland brethren. It will be seen, 

 then, that this extra time for feeding, when extended over the seven 

 or eight years which constitute the life of a trout, easily accounts 

 for the difference in size. But not only is the feeding-time shorter, 



but the food is much scarcer. A loch at sea-level with water 5 to i 2 



27 



