How to obtain it. 89 



will grow to a considerable extent in water, such as white clover, 

 buttercup, etc. I found this out, as many other things have been 

 found out, quite by accident some years ago. The grass border 

 to a pond containing some trout fry had not been cut so carefully 

 as usual, and I noticed that where plants growing on the margin 

 of the water had put out their runners and were endeavouring to 

 grow in that element, there the little fish congregated and pro- 

 duced very much better specimens than were to be found in the 

 body of the pond. I have since several times cultivated these 

 land plants as marginal semi-aquatics, and with favourable results. 

 On another occasion, some trout fry which had accidentally 

 escaped from a rearing box were afterwards found in a water plant 

 bed, and in a month they had quite doubled the size of their 

 fellows, who were being reared by artificial means. The water- 

 cress was one of the plants which grew in this particular place, 

 and under the shelter of which the little fish had taken refuge. 

 Watercress requires to be planted where there is a comparatively 

 warm spring, in order to have a good crop early in the year, but 

 in many sheltered situations it will make good headway in April 

 by the heat of the sun alone. It can also be forced very rapidly \ ! 

 under glass, and it is worth while doing this about fry ponds and fj 

 their raceways. 



Another excellent marginal plant is the marsh marigold 

 (Caliha palustris). Like the watercress, it may be planted at the 

 head of a pond, along the sides of the stream, and also all round 

 the sides of the pond itself, at any convenient places. It is a 

 useful plant for fry ponds, or any rearing ponds, and I have grown 

 it about my own for many years with advantage. Rabbits do not 

 eat it, which cannot be said of the watercress, for I have found 

 the latter quite exterminated by these rodents where the marsh 

 marigolds were left untouched. They are very easily cultivated, 

 and should be planted in spring, and they never become a pest, 

 which is very much in their favour. I have succeeded in getting 

 a variety that produces fine double flowers, and either these or the 

 single ones are exceedingly effective when cultivated in clumps. 

 They have the advantage of being very hardy, and once 

 established are easily propagated, either by means of seeds or 

 offshoots. I have seen trout fry harbouring under the shelter of 



