A inert can Fisheries Society. 77 



dent or slaughtered on account of old age, rei'iisc fisli, citlier 

 Iresh or dried or salted, all these were used, as each Ix-caine avail- 

 able. It was found that flies were uiucli more readily attracted 

 bv fresh than by very stale material, and therefore aiiytliiii,<i- I bat 

 had already begun to decay was avoided; thougb, of course, in 

 every case decay soon set in. Tn case of dried and salted fish 

 they had first to b(! soaked in water, and even then the salted 

 fish did not prove so attractive to flies as the fresh material. Af- 

 ter the first exix-riments a house about 28 by 50 feet was built 

 especially for the pui-pose. This was fitted with ranges of shelves 

 on which were placed the «>Towing-boxes. The boxes were in 

 pairs, one within another. The inner box, snuiUer bv several 

 inclu'S than the outer, had a wireclotli liottoni and stood on four 

 legs which held it up from the bottom of the outer box. On tbe 

 wuv bottom was spread a layer of hay, and on this was places! 

 the fly-blown meat, which was generally covered by a light laver 

 of dried loam to suljdue the odor. Here the eggs hatched, tlie 

 young feasted and grew, and in a few days, having attained full 

 size, they crawled doM^i through tbe bay and the wirecloth into 

 the outer box, whence they could be tnnie(l out into a pail and 

 carried to the fish. 



The fry receiving this aliment were loi- the most ])art i-carc(l 

 in wooden troughs a foot wide. At first the maggots weix- |)lac<'(l 

 on small boards susix'iided over these troughs and left to crawl 

 off slowly into the water, but later they were strewn in with 

 spoons. They were always eagerly devoured and none escaped. 

 Full-grown nuiggots were found too large for salmon or trout 

 fry just beginning to feed, and though it was found ))ossible to 

 feed them with half-grown or smaller maggots, tbe ju-actice 

 finally adopted in the main wtus to feed liver for several weeks 

 at the start. The maggot-feeding generally l)egan in June and 

 continued until October, when it was customary to liJM-rate most 

 of the fry. It was. however, found ])o.>^sib]e to kee|) maggots on 

 hand in a cool cellar the most of the winter, dormant or slowly 

 growing. 



Kish fi'd on maggots have invariably made a better growth 

 than those fed on liver or any other dead mattTials tried. Tbu.- 

 in ].S!>0 the average weight attained in Octoln-r by l.S.;}(;; salmon 

 Irv U'i\ all summer on chopped meat was 4.") gi'ains: while 1 1,I7!> 



