7O On Stocking. 



nearly every fish comes to the rod, the cost of stocking 

 is fairly balanced by the dead value of the trout caught ; 

 but I am afraid in so large a piece of water as the Lake 

 of . . ., the cost of annual stocking with two-year- 

 olds would be out of proportion to the result. It might, 

 however, be the most convenient for the first year. 



NUMBER OF TROUT REQUIRED YEARLINGS USED. 



I have not the acreage of the Lake of . . ., but I 

 suppose there is about 500 acres of fishable water, and 

 about 200 acres either too shallow or too deep. On the 

 above supposition, at a moderate stocking of 100 year- 

 lings to the acre, 50,000 yearlings would be required. 

 These trout, three years after, should yield an average of 

 between 9 Ibs. and 10 Ibs. per acre (which is of 12 feet or 

 less in depth). 5000 Ibs. annually is the gross weight of 

 trout that should reasonably be expected to the rod. That 

 is/with 50,000 yearlings as a stocking in 500 acres of fishing 

 water (there being no pike supposed for purposes of this 

 calculation), it would be reasonable to expect 20,000 Ib. 

 trout caught in the second season, 10,000 J Ib. trout in the 

 third season, and 5000 1 Ib. trout in the fourth season, 

 leaving 15,000 trout for casualties and to grow to larger 

 fish. The question is, what annual stock of yearlings is 

 equivalent to a single stocking of 50,000 ? The number 

 varies in different waters, the cause being due to cannibal- 

 ism. If all the trout could be caught or removed in the end 

 of the fourth season, the second stocking with 50,000 year- 

 lings would be in 1896, which gives the annual average 

 required of 12,500, but owing to the cannibalistic pro- 

 pensities of trout, the annual number required is at 

 least 20,000 (in place of 12,500). And this I believe 

 to be the lowest annual stocking of yearlings the loch will 

 require. Should the feeding turn out as good as I anti- 

 cipate, a much larger number up to 40,000 yearlings 

 per annum might be used with economy and success ; 



