54 



(c.) Two and three-year-olds will double tlieir weight annually, and 

 can be made to do so in the six months from April to September, 

 inclusive, by extra care and feeding, 



{d.) Good food for grown-up trout, viz. : lungs and plucks of 

 slaughtered aninuds, can be purchased anywhere for two or three 

 cents a pound. The cost of the actual food for young fry for the first 

 six months is unappreciable. 



{e.) First-class trout bring one dollar a pound in Fulton market in 

 April, and can be forced at almost any time when in season at fifty 

 cents. 



{/.) Freshly killed trout, well packed in ice and sawdust, will stand 

 a direct journey in the summer by rail of 500 miles, without injury. 



Mr. Stepen H. Ainsworth's estimate of profits, published over five 

 years ago (1866) is as follows : 



Cost of buildings and fixtures $6 > 000 



5,000 parents for spawn at fifty cents 2? 500 



Three men's labor for four years, at $300 per year 3? 600 



Cost of food for 1,000,000 trout for four years 20 , 000 



Cost of food for 1,000,000 trout for three years 10 , 000 



Cost of food for 1,000,000 trout for two years ." 4, 000 



Cost of food for 1,000,000 trout for one year 1 , 000 



Total $47a00 



Now for their value. The 1,000,000 of four-year-olds will average 

 a pound each, and are worth at least twenty-five cents per pound in 



the pond, which makes the four-year-olds worth $250 j 000 



1,000,000 three-year-olds, one-half pound each 175 j 000 



1,000,000 two-year-olds, one-quarter pound each 87? 000 



1,000,000 one-year-olds, one ounce each 30? 000 



The worth of all trouble at the end of four years $542 j 000 



Deduct the price of growing 475 000 



Profit $495,000 



As these figures stand, they cannot serve as a guide to fish breedej*s 

 at present, for no one begins to carry on the business on this immense 

 scale. But suppose we divide the figures by fifty, which brings the 

 scale within reach ; we then have a profit of $10,000, on an establish- 

 ment turning out 20,000, four years old, annually. This I believe 

 would be not far from the truth, were it not for one item which Mr. 



