How to obtain it. 81 



upon the nature of the ground, but in any case it is desirable to 

 remove as little of the original sod as may be practicable. Should 

 no digging out be required for the purpose of deepening or 

 enlarging the pond, let the material for the embankment be 

 obtained, as far as possible, anywhere but from the pond bottom. 

 A moderate quantity of material may be taken from the deep end 

 of it near the embankment, as a matter of convenience, if desired, 

 but that is all. The object of this is to preserve the original soil 

 and sod, so that on the filling of the pond it may remain 

 undisturbed and form the bottom, and where this is done, and 

 the water properly stocked at the right time by means of ova, fry, 

 or yearlings, I dare prognosticate a most encouraging result. 



There are many striking instances of the success attending 

 the stocking of such waters, but the following will suffice. In 

 May, 1884, 5,000 Loch Leven trout fry were put into Whitley 

 Reservoir, near Wigan. The reservoir contained no fish and had 

 been filled some time, and the water was consequently in 

 excellent condition. On October 8th, 1886, the following 

 appeared in the Wigan Examiner : 



"TROUT IN THE WHITLEY RESERVOIR." 



" To the Editor of the Wigan Examiner. Sir, It may be interesting 

 to some of your readers to know the particular? of an experiment to introduce 

 Scotch trout into this water, and more especially so as several references 

 to the matter have appeared in the papers. In the month of April,* 

 1884 .... I purchased 5,000 Loch Leven trout from the Sol way 

 Fishery, Dumfries, N. B. . . The trout reached Wigan in good condition, 



and .... were put into the reservoir immediately Out 



of the 5,000 fish I have at different times taken, as specimens, six fish only. 

 The first of these I caught early in the spring of this year, and it weighed 

 thirteen ounces, while the last caught weighed two pounds six ouncest truly 

 a wonderful growth in so short a time. The six fish, when taken, had been 

 feeding apparently entirely upon a species of shell fish which abounds in the 



pond 



" Yours truly, 



" CHARLES APPLETON." 



Along with the newspaper cutting I have quoted I received 

 the following : 



* The fish were sent in May. t Larace numbers were afterwards taken, 2 Ib. to 3lb. 

 G 



