12 On Stocking. 



older trout. Males do not fight if there are no 

 spawners to fight about, and the ugly wounds, so 

 prevalent in autumn and so fertile a source of 

 disease, are conspicuous by their absence. 



Sufficient ponds having been provided, the 

 strain of trout requires to be obtained from 

 selected breeders, selected yearlings, selected 

 two-year-olds, and again selected three-year-olds. 

 After this fourth elimination of the less fit, the 

 trout may be allowed to grow for two seasons, 

 after which they are fit for spawning and the Ova 

 are of good size; but the best and almost the 

 largest Ova are yielded in the seventh season. 

 The Ova in the eighth are very slightly larger, but 

 the impregnation is not so perfect, and the number 

 of Ova per pound of trout is less. The next 

 season the Ova are still very good, but the 

 number per pound is sensibly smaller, and per- 

 centage of impregnation perceptibly lower. We 

 believe the lowering of the percentage of impreg- 

 nation in very old trout is due to the thickening 

 of the shell of the Ovum. 



It is necessary to have a series of ponds for each 

 strain of trout, although so many ponds are not re- 

 quired for ordinary strains as for the selected pedi- 

 gree breeders, nor is it necessary to size the breeders 

 so frequently, but it is a mistake to suppose that 

 the same class of ponds are suited to all strains of 

 trout. Some prefer the water to flow in as a 



