FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 151 



country I am content to accept the verdict of those who 

 follow the road I have endeavoured to make clear. 



The main object of the operations and apparatus recom- 

 mended is to absolutely secure the safety of, and provide an 

 ample supply of, food for the greatest possible number 

 of fish until they arrive at a stage when they may be utilised 

 for sporting or market purposes. Herein lies the secret of 

 successful fish-farming. Trout eggs are so easily and cheaply 

 obtained that an enormous number may be placed on redds 

 or in hatcheries at a cost of a few pounds only. But success 

 lies not in the direction of merely planting eggs ; it is to be 

 met with where, from the time of incubation until the fish 

 arrive at maturity, they are absolutely secure, and their 

 surroundings of a character to encourage healthy growth. I 

 may well be excused for repeating here that placing 1 some 

 thousands of fry or yearlings in a, water not properly prepared 

 for their reception does not mean the successful stocking of 

 that water. Let the security of your stock of fish and an 

 ample food supply he your constant care and attention, and 

 you will have no cause to regret embarking on fish-culture 

 operations. 



Should you have the slightest doubt about the suitability of 

 a water when contemplating the formation or extension of a 

 fishery, test it first on a small scale by the introduction of a 

 few trout before committing yourself to operations of more 

 importance. This advice applies specially to taking over an 

 old fishery. There may exist some reason for its abandon- 

 ment in the past, which utterly precludes successful opera- 

 tions to-day. On the other hand, such reasons may have ex- 

 isted in the past and do not obtain in the present. 



Make firm friends of your neighbours, especially if they 

 have any rights of access to your water supply from above. 



Let your man in charge live close by the fishery. It may 

 quite easily happen that a little timely attention will be the 

 means of avoiding disaster. 



With ordinary care, your stock of fish should be easily pro- 

 tected from their numerous enemies. In another place I 



