74 



HEARING YEARLING AND TWO-YEAR-OLD TROUT. 



FIG. 24 scale J. 



to 22,000 each season. The food is measured, not weighed ; but 

 each pail holds 14 Ibs. It is very important that the pails are 

 shallow and wide, as shown in the cut (Fig. 24), otherwise they are 



very inconvenient to feed from ; and 

 the food will not be thrown nearly 

 so evenly over the surface of the 

 ponds if the feeder has to stoop down 

 for it, while, with a shallow pail, 

 it can be scattered as evenly as seed 

 from a sower's apron. 



Hardly any fish die between one 

 and two years of age ; and as it is 

 very injudicious to overstock a pond, 

 10 per cent, is an ample margin to 

 allow in stocking with yearlings to produce two-year-olds. It 

 is a very different matter stocking with fry to produce yearlings. 

 Usually, at least double the number of fry must be used. In 

 fact, in the 100-feet ponds, 30,000 fry are frequently required 

 to produce 10,000 yearlings. But this seeming waste is more a 

 matter of economy than necessity, as, if sufficient care and atten- 

 tion is given to the feeding at first, 10,000 yearlings can be pro- 

 duced from 15,000 fry ; and in the 20-feet ponds, with mechanical 

 feeding, I have obtained even a better proportion. Mais lejeu ne 

 vaut pas la chandelle. A farmer might just as well sow his 

 turnips seed by seed to avoid the trouble of thinning. A larger pro- 

 portion of the seed might of course be grown into turnips, but at a 

 greatly increased cost of labour and much risk of failure. The 

 egg-producing power at Howietoun is at present in excess of its 

 requirements, but the margin is growing less every year as the ova 

 sales increase, and probably in a few years it will not pay to allow 

 a margin of more than 50 per cent, in stocking the 100-feets with 

 fry. There is not the slightest reason why the necessary loss 

 should be over 10 per cent. It is merely a question of cost. 



