How to obtain it. 267 



as fat as seals. A short time before they turn into frogs tadpole 

 traps should be set, several in each pond. These consist merely 

 of a bone, each suspended in the water, or a piece of meat may 

 be used. These baits are found night and morning to be one 

 mass of tadpoles, which swarm around them in great numbers, 

 and rather resemble swarms of bees. They are lifted out twice 

 daily in a very simple manner. Take an ordinary riddle or sieve 

 of such fineness that they cannot slip through its meshes, and tie 

 this firmly on to the end of a short stick. An old hay rake 

 handle is a very good thing, as it is usually split into two prongs 

 at the end, and is more easily fixed firmly than an ordinary stick. 

 Armed with this apparatus the man in charge goes quietly to the 

 pond, adroitly dips the sieve under the pendant bunch of tadpoles, 

 and lifts. They immediately leave the bait and fall into the sieve, 

 which is then withdrawn, and the forsaken bait being tied, is 

 dragged over the side and falls into the water again, the trap thus 

 resetting itself. The contents of the sieve are then emptied into 

 a pail, and another bunch is lifted in the same manner. A very 

 large number are easily taken in this way twice daily, and the trout 

 soon make short work of them when they are thrown into the ponds. 

 This food possesses the great advantage of being alive and of 

 living in the water, and if any are not immediately devoured they 

 remain in the trout pond and are eaten afterwards at leisure, and 

 they do not foul the water. Should a quantity of them remain 

 unused until they turn into frogs, they do equally well for large 

 trout which eat them freely. The only difficulty is that when 

 they become frogs they will get out of the pond, and many of 

 them will be lost unless they are sharply looked after. 



Toads spawn later in the season than frogs, and the spawn 

 consists of long ribbon-like masses, the eggs being in a gelatinous- 

 looking mass like frog spawn. Trout will eat them, but they do 

 not relish them as they do frog tadpoles. Immense quantities of 

 worms can often be obtained very easily by sending children to 

 follow the plough and gather them indeed it is sometimes worth 

 while to drive a plough simply for the sake of the worms. This 

 is one of the many ways in which agriculture and aquaculture 

 work together. Willows may be profitably grown on the waste 

 ground, where such exists, about fish ponds, and a better use for 



