61 



is called the von Sclieidliu-Rakus system. As near 

 as I can learn from correspondence this system is en- 

 tirely different from the method followed by Lngrin. 



Mr. Thompson : I have had a little experience 

 with tront fr}^, and I believe it is the same with trout 

 fry as with a child, horse, cow, or any other living 

 thing. Taking tront fry in quantities such as a man 

 will have to raise for a state hatcher}^ or marketable 

 purposes, it is impossible to get the amount of natural 

 food out of any f)lace where you can put the fry to 

 grow them. Take a child or a colt aad starve it in its 

 3'OUth, and it will be a starved man or horse to the day 

 it dies. It is the same thing with trout. You can 

 take trout fry and feed them and take care of them 

 and grow them ; I don't care what the food is you feed 

 them, provided it agrees with them and they get enough 

 of it to live on, they will go ahead. Of course, if you 

 can give them natural food, so much the better. But 

 ni}' experience has been within the past few 3'ears, and 

 I have had quite a little — and I can show you this 

 3'ear's trout three inches long — 



Mr. Cheney : Three inches ? 



Mr. Thompson : Yes, sir. I will do it tomorrow, if 

 any gentleman cares to come with me. I will show 

 this year's fry three inches long. They have not re- 

 ceived any artificial food so far, and I will show you 

 thousands of others that are fed and taken care of, 

 running from one half to two inches long, and I will 

 show you year old trout weighing one cjuarter, three 

 eighths, and a half-pound. 



They are fed from a series of ponds. I will show 

 you 20,000 fish in a pond not much larger than this 

 room, very little, if any. I will show you a fish that 

 will average from a quarter to a half-pound. This fish 

 has been fed regularly. When a man says that he 

 cannot raise trout, and raise them profitably, in my 

 opinion it is because he does not pa}^ attention to it. 



