VALUE OF NORWEGIAN LAKES FOR FISH CULTURE. 567 



relation cannot be taken into consideration where energetic cultivation is 

 in question, which does not rely upon natural culture for the preservation 

 or the increase of the abundance of fish. In reality it may possibly be that 

 the perfectly innocent char has been blamed for that for which the sea- 

 worm is held responsible elsewhere, wliile the real culprit has been man 

 and him alone, who has fished with stui)idity and rapacity, and will 

 not comprehend and confess that he has done his utmost to kill both the 

 goose and the goslings, in which he has finally succeeded ; because with 

 this explanation it is clear that the more easily accessible trout will be 

 captured and diminished in numbers more rapidly than the less accessi- 

 ble char. 



If in possession of water in which it is admitted that the char will thrive 

 and acquire a desirable flavor, this and the trout may unquestionably 

 be raised together. That they will fight for the food at hand is certain 

 and unavoidable ; but that the char should diminish the abundance of 

 the trout is plainly inconceivable if the supply of both kinds is regulated 

 by artificial hatching and protection of the tender j'oung in the quantity 

 which may be found suitable for the proper stocking of the water in 

 proportion to its nourishing capacity. It may, of course, happen that 

 one of these kinds of fish will find better conditions for natural culture 

 tlian the other, and thus increase proportionally more in number, but in 

 such a case one will have it in his power, by limiting the artificial cul- 

 ture of the favorably situated species, to restore the desired proi)ortion. 



The char is considered not only here in South-eastern i^orway as the 

 finest, best flavored fresh-water fish, but the same value is attached to it 

 also in England, France, and Southern Germany, where it occurs in the 

 natural or cultivated state. 



Gwi:?^iAD [Goregonus oxyrhynchus, lavaretus, /era, vimha) make their 

 home in the less-elevated larger lakes and streams, where they, presum- 

 ably because of strong persecution alone, for the present reach but a small 

 size. Experience in the attemj^t of introduction shows that it thrives 

 particularly well in our more elevated mountain lakes, where it reaches 

 considerable size, fatness, and flavor. While it nowadays in this country, 

 where it occurs most generally, seldom reaches a size of two to three 

 kilograms, in Finland it grows to six kilograms and over. It is gen- 

 ea'ally known as one of our best fishes, which one can eat more freely 

 without becoming tired of it than trout or salmon. It is not, like the 

 trout, what is called a gluttonous fish, or a fish of prey, since its mouth 

 is small and not so armed with teeth that it can seize a somewhat de- 

 veloi)ed fish, even though of small size. It lives, therefore, on water- 

 insects of different kinds, but also, like all the others, on spawn and 

 young fishes. Its spawning-time is late in the autumn, and for a spawn- 

 ing-place it cJiooses a stony bottom in shallow water. It is compara- 

 tively more fruitful than the trout, sinceitseggsareof somewhat smaller 

 size. 



This fish is admirably adapted for rearing along with the trout and the 



