250 How to obtain it. 



some individuals, who take a real interest in the welfare of the 

 little fish. 



It is not only necessary to supply food regularly, but to see 

 that the fish get it, and that all get their share. It will be found 

 that some of them rapidly outstrip the others in growth, and begin 

 to " bully " their neighbours. This makes sorting desirable, as 

 these larger fish will, if allowed to remain with their fellows, 

 develop cannibalistic propensities, and devour a goodly number 

 of them. When they begin to do this they grow rapidly, and 

 soon thin down the numbers of the other fish, so that the owner 

 of a pond may sometimes be surprised to find on letting it off, 

 and counting his stock at the end of the season, that there is a 

 great deficiency, far over and above the number which have been 

 recorded as taken out dead from time to time. These large fish, 

 too, receive harm by being allowed to remain with the smaller 

 ones. They naturally grow more and more cannibalistic, and 

 would, if allowed to do so, eat up all the small fish in a pond, and 

 then begin to eat each other. Many large trout are developed in 

 this way, but it is doubtful whether they are desirable fish for 

 breeding purposes. 



No question can be of much greater importance to the fish 

 breeder than the development of his stock fish. When yearlings 

 are being sorted from time to time, as they are thinned out a few 

 of the choicest and best-made fish should be selected and placed 

 in a pond where they can be taken care of. A pond sixty feet 

 long, eighteen or twenty feet wide, and four to six feet deep will 

 do very well, and such a pond will hold fifteen hundred yearling 

 fish, provided always that there is an ample supply of water. In 

 selecting these fish, great care should be taken to secure those of 

 the most perfect shape, and it will be understood by any one 

 acquainted with cattle or poultry breeding that this is a matter 

 that requires a considerable amount of judgment, as well as a 

 good knowledge of the construction or build of the fish themselves. 

 Some are at once rejected, being too long or too short, or having 

 misshapen fins or opercles, or being otherwise not quite up to the 

 mark. These are at once disqualified for breeding purposes. 

 They may be perfect fish in the ordinary sense of the word and 

 from an angler's point of view, and are perhaps even above average, 



