FISH CULTURE. 937 



and is more apt to hang in strips or strings. The liver, which can easily be cut into small 

 pieces, may be fed to the smaller fish. Trout will sometimes choke to death; they are so 

 greedy that they attempt to swallow a very large piece of food, and it sticks in their throats 

 and kills them. Often it is caught in their teeth and thus prevented from going down the 

 throat, or it gets into their gills and stops their breathing. They will, when choking, come to 

 the top of the water, and may sometimes be saved by taking the piece out of their throats, or 

 pushing it down. But the best remedy is to chop the meat fine, say one-half or one-quarter 

 inch squares for two and three years old. 



No machine which wo have ever tried would do the work of chopping to our satisfaction. 

 A sausage machine runs the food together and mashes it, and the meat cutters, which do the 

 best, require cleaning and sharpening so often, that they are only a nuisance. The best thing 

 we have ever found is a butcher s block, or log of wood two and a half feet high on which to 

 cut, and a very heavy knife or light butcher s cleaver. These instruments are very simple, 

 not liable to get out of order, and do the work required of them in the best manner, and with 

 no more labor than a machine would require. Sometimes two or three knives are fastened 

 together to make the work go more expeditiously; but one is best, or at most one in each hand. 



Fish fed on liver or lights are not as good eating as wild fish; this is especially so of 

 trout, which should* never be sent to market or the table directly from the stew pond. But 

 they soon recover their flavor when they are turned loose, and made to seek their natural 

 food in a natural way. 



Any kind of meat is good for food. Trout are carnivorous and will not eat vegetables 

 of any kind that we have ever tried. We feed them lights and liver because it is the least 

 expensive food we can find in large quantities, and answers a very good purpose. In their 

 natural state, trout feed upon insects of all descriptions which abound in or near the water; 

 worms of all sorts, from the angle worm to the caterpillar, which the wind shakes from the 

 trees bordering the stream into the water, are eagerly taken. Flies of every kind which 

 either drop down upon the surface of the water to lay their eggs, or may happen to fall into 

 it, are quickly devoured. Young fish which may be in the stream serve for food; so do grass 

 hoppers and beetles which fall into the water, and even the crawfish is not spared. If any 

 one will examine the bottom of a good trout stream carefully, he will find every stick, stone, 

 and bunch of moss in it covered and filled with insects of various kinds. If you look at the 

 bottom of the creek, also, when it is free from moss and sticks, you will see that in the 

 summer time it presents a curious mottled appearance, as if it were having an eruption of 

 some kind; these protuberances are caused by the larvae of water flies, which, after a time, 

 rise to the surface, and then breaking their shell or case, for the first time, spread their wings 

 and fly away. On these, before they have assumed the fly-state, the trout feed ; and the eggs 

 of water flies, together with minute insects and worms, are the special food of the very young 

 trout. 



Fish of any kind are a very good food for trout. If they are small they may be put into 

 the water whole, the trout will take them all the better if they are alive. Any coarse fish 

 which can be obtained cheaply and in sufficient quantities, may be chopped up fine and used 

 as food. As we said before, they will not eat carrion, unless pressed by hunger. They will 

 eat a live trout, but we have never known an instance of their eating, or even touching a dead 

 one. If any way could be devised of raising flies, or shrimp, or various kinds of insects 

 (their natural food), in sufficient quantities and at little expense, this would be the best of all. 

 A change of food would also do them good, but we find that they will not readily change 

 their food. 



As to the quantity of food necessary for a given number of trout. This is difficult to 

 give exactly, as it will vary with the size of the fish and the season of the year, more being 

 required in moderate weather than when it is very hot or very cold. For one thousand three- 

 year-olds, about five pounds of lights or liver per day; for two-year-olds, three pounds; but a 

 very little trial will show just how much to feed them. Feeding once each day will keep the 

 trout, over one year old, in good condition. Feed slowly, and as soon as they begin to refuse 

 the food, stop feeding them, then you have the measure, and feed a little less than this 

 quantity every day. We say a little less because we have known cases in which owners of 

 ponds being over anxious to fatten their trout, have killed them by over-feeding. Still this 

 does not often happen, especially if they are fed regularly. A trout after long abstinence will 

 gorge himself to repletion; but will not kill himself to-day if he is reasonably sure of to 

 morrow s dinner. All animals appear to be wiser than men in this matter, and it is very 

 seldom that they will eat enough to do them injury, no matter how much may be given them. 



