PREFACE. 



THE Howietoun Fishery having now been just completed, after 

 ten years of continuous constructive work, it seems to me unad- 

 visable longer to delay publishing an account of the mode in 

 which the design has been carried out, and of the results already 

 obtained. 



The object in view has been to prove, by actual experience, 

 that the culture of the Scdmonidce can be made commercially a 

 success, if set about in a businesslike manner. At a very early 

 period I realised that, in comparison with the numbers of live fish 

 claimed to have been produced, the results of fish-culture as 

 applied to the Salmonidce were in general very meagre. 



What the reasons were did not seem clear. At first I was 

 inclined to attribute it principally to some want in the treatment 

 of the ova. Now, with fuller knowledge, I only wonder that any 

 results were obtained. At the head of the list stand out in 

 strong relief over-statements, caused no doubt by anxiety to claim 

 the best possible results, and the insuperable difficulty in count- 

 ing the fry ; next in order, the almost total ignorance of the 

 habits and requirements of young fish ; and the difficulty of trans- 

 planting them for their mere conveyance alive to the destination 



