GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 2O9 



trout {Sah?iofoNti;ui/is) actually caught, which weighed 

 between 9 and 10 pounds. They are as follows. In 

 September, 1867, Mr. Geo. S. Page caught at the outlet 

 of Rangeley Lake, Franklin Co., Maine, two mala 

 trout, one weighing 10 pounds, the other 9^ pounds. 

 In June, 187 1, Theo. L. Page, Esq., caught a trout in 

 Mooseluc Maguntic Lake, in the same county, weigh- 

 ing ^\ pounds. These are the largest brook Irout in 

 regard to which I have succeeded in obtaining well- 

 attested statistics, after making inquiries in various di- 

 rections ; and I think it is safe to venture the assertion 

 that these trout, if not the largest individuals ever 

 caught in this country, are representatives of the 

 largest type of the Salmo fontinalis in the United 

 States.* The w^eight of trout is very deceptive. There 

 is no safe test but the scales. The length is no guide, 

 for his depth and breadth will often in a short trout 

 more than compensate in weight for what is lacking in 

 length, and then again a lean trout in poor condition 

 sometimes actually does not weigh more than half 



* The following letter gives a fuller account of the large trout 

 caught by Mr. Page : — 



10 Warren Street, New York, August 14, 1871. 



Livingston Stone, Esq. 



Dear Sir : In reply to yours of the 5th instant, making in- 

 quiries with regard to brook trout, I have much pleasure in men- 

 tioning three, caught in September, 1867, by the subscriber at 

 the outlet of Rangeley Lake, Franklin County, Maine, — this 

 lake being the head-waters of the Androscoggin River : — 



One ID lbs. male, 



One 9^ lbs, do., 



One 8i lbs. female. 

 The first and last were transported alive in a box of water, 



n 



