TROUT IX S.A. WATERS 267 



passing up the furrows. Au important point to note 

 Is that the water levels vary very much during the season, 

 being in the driest months very low, and when the fish 

 need food there is little for them. Trout need a con- 

 stant supply of food or they will prey upon the smaller 

 fish, including tlieir own fry. Now, if the bogs and back- 

 waters before alluded to were connected by channels 

 with the rivers, they would yield a supply of vegetation 

 and aquatic life which would in many cases keep the 

 river beds supplied all the year round, because it would 

 be washed out and deposited annually along the banks 

 and in pools with accompanying soil and sediment. In- 

 deed, a little attention Avould disclose hundreds of corners 

 which would hold vegetation with the accompanying living 

 organisms that are so badly needed, and which, but for 

 the vegetation, would be washed away by every flood. 

 Where pools have a soft bottom it has become so by the 

 deposit of alluvial matter, which proves that in times 

 of flood that particular spot is more or less free from 

 scour and should be a suitable centre for the propagation 

 of aquatic plants to provide food and shelter for the fish; 

 of course it is necessary to select the proper plants. 

 Such beds should only be formed where, in the driest 

 season, there is a sliglit inflow and outgo of water and 

 preferabh^ in places somewhat exposed to the prevalent 

 winds, which ruffle the surface. By that action the water 

 naturally absorbs the necessary amount of oxygen to 

 keep it fresh and sweet. Such a pool should not be too 

 much sheltered by trees as a certain amount of sunlight 

 is necessary for the growth of plants and is beneficial 

 to the fish. Unless a proper exposure to light and wind 

 is provided to stagnant pools, there is always the daqger 

 of trout being attacked by the Salmon Fungus (Sap- 

 rolegnia) or some similar disease. As stated elsewhere, 

 I have unfortunately good reason for suspecting the 

 presence of some such disease in certain waters. It is 

 believed that the disease is not necessarily epidemic, but 



