70 FISHFOOD 



gain a foothold and soon turn the food into a mass of worms and worthless 

 dirt. If one has a large stock of such food it is a good plan to store it 

 in the coldest possible place over winter, which will either kill the insects 

 or reduce their activity. 



In foregoing recipe, cod is prepared by purchasing a package of 

 shredded cod, drying in a slow oven and grinding fine in a coffee mill. 

 This is very easily done. Dried shrimp may be had at Chinese grocery 

 stores. It needs to be broken in pieces, put through a coarse setting of 

 the mill, then well dried for a few days and lastly ground fine. A fine 

 grade of dried shrimp ready for grinding is obtainable from German 

 dealers at low cost. There are several wholesalers of dried shrimp in 

 New Orleans, Louisiana. 



Whole wheat flour is preferable to white flour. 



Those desiring to experiment on a food according to their own ideas 

 of ingredients and proportions may safely use any of the following items 

 in addition to those already mentioned; Pea flour, rice flour, rye flour, 

 vermicelli, boiled fish, boiled yellow of egg, fine corn meal, ant eggs, 

 chopped earthworms, water crackers, dried bread, dried blood, chopped 

 meal worms, dried and powdered lettuce leaves, dried fish roe and dried 

 daphnia. In preparing the latter two ingredients they should be par- 

 boiled with a moderate amount of salt, then placed in cheesecloth, water 

 squeezed out, spread out thin on tin plates and dried quickly in the sun 

 or slow oven. The drying must be thorough and quick. In drying it will 

 be found that the shrinkage in volume will be very great. It should, 

 therefore, be remembered that they are highly concentrated and to be 

 used accordingly. The same is true of dried blood, which may be pur- 

 chased of seedsmen. 



A very simply prepared fishfood on which the author's fish thrive is 

 made by mixing two tumblers finely powdered puppy biscuit, quarter 

 tumbler each of powdered cod and powdered dried shrimp. Add, say, 

 a teaspoonful of powdered agar-agar. Prepare boiling water, but first stir 

 the dry mixture over a fire in a saucepan a short time to warm it. The 

 object of this is to prevent the boiling water from being chilled by the 

 mixture before it has made sure of killing any larvae which may be 

 present. Now stir in the boiling water until the mass is moist all through, 

 but not quite wet. After it has partially cooled, mix in a beaten raw egg. 

 If this does not thin the mixture sufficiently for smooth spreading, add 

 sufficient water or milk. The ladies of the household may object to using 

 the inside of the pie plates for drying fish-food, so use the bottoms. 



