38 WINTER FOOD FOR FISH. 



large common fish out by judicious netting, as the food 

 they uselessly consume will then go to support fish of bet- 

 ter qualities. I do not allude either to grilse or salmon, 

 but decidedly to the smolt, trout, and other good fresh- 

 water fish. Trout require abundance of food all the year 

 round ; and this should be furnished by coarse fish, the 

 young of which are the food they like best and thrive 

 upon. 



I have now to hope, in conclusion, that the readers of 

 this treatise will give its arguments and statements their 

 best attention ; and if I have not gone deep enough into 

 the merits of fisheries, I trust that men with more power 

 of research will follow up the subject, pursue it through all 

 its issues, and prosper : for in this age of knowledge it is 

 greatly to be regretted that water should not be cultivated 

 as much as land, and more especially when it is matter 

 of fact that water is far more capable of producing abun- 

 dance of food than any other element in the great laboratory 

 of Nature. Why, then, should such a source of plenty be 

 neglected ? 



THE END. 



