164 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



to notice individual peculiarities ; and it will be a source 

 of great pleasure to see them growing daily in strength 

 and stature, and taking on by almost imperceptible 

 degrees the ways and appearance of mature trout. 

 Indeed, you cannot spend an hour or so a week more 

 profitably than by studying the little fellows minutely, 

 with your eyes as close to the surface of the water as 

 you can get. This is the way to study them ; and if 

 you want to obtain an insight into the nature of trout, 

 and have signal success in raising them, this is the 

 thing to do. 



The young fry in their growth probably will not 

 keep pace with your wishes at first. Still they are 

 really growing rapidly, and if their apparently slow 

 progress makes you impatient, take out one of them 

 any time in the summer and compare it with one of 

 your preserved specimens of a day old. You will be 

 gratified with the contrast, and will see that they have 

 doubled their size many times over, though they had 

 appeared to remain nearly stationary. They are also 

 getting their flesh hard and solid, as you may see by 

 taking out a four weeks' trout on a piece of board or 

 glass and letting it dry, and doing the same again in 

 the summer with a six months' trout. The first speci- 

 men will leave hardly more than an impression of the 

 fish's form, as thin as tissue. The second will show 

 solidity as well as figure. 



The young fry will continue to grow and require 

 more food until winter sets in. In the mean while 

 they will demand constant watching and care, the 

 nature of which will be described more fully in the 



