102 SEASON 1873-74. 



now know to have been the cause of this extraordinary disparity 

 between length and weight, but two years ago I was hardly suffi- 

 ciently advanced to be quite sure. He must have been over 

 16 pounds in his prime. A large proportion of these Swiss fry 

 gave an account of themselves afterwards. Although the loch 

 was swarming with perch when they were turned in, these in 

 four years became comparatively scarce, nor have they ever since 

 been caught in anything like the same numbers as formerly. 

 Prior to 1874 I do not think there ever were any trout in Loch 

 Coulter before I introduced these strangers, at least not for many 

 years. Some time last century the loch was raised and a sluice 

 placed on the outlet for the mills below, most of which are on the 

 Bannock burn, and as the loch is fed by springs there is no place 

 for trout to spawn. A small ditch runs into the west end of the 

 water, but most summers this is completely dry. And even if 

 trout did succeed in depositing a few eggs, they would come to 

 nothing, or if they did nine years out of ten the fry would all be 

 dried up before they were able to take care of themselves : fry 

 seldom do anything in still deep water before August in Scotland. 

 For several years I caught Swiss trout in Goldenhoof dam, which 

 supplies the mills on the Bannock burn ; but I found it necessary 

 to run the dam dry for some time to enable me to clean and 

 enlarge it, so as to retain the water I drew from Loch Coulter at 

 night, so that there might be no waste of water-power. Since the 

 dam has been restocked I have cut off the passage of wild fish from 

 below, and have not seen any more there. 



Such were the results of my first season's fish-culture. 



As yet I had no hatching-house, and the experiments were 

 carried on in the open air, with only such shelter as the trees 

 over the stream afforded. The necessity for shelter was felt, and 

 a hatching-house begun early in the spring of 1874. 



