EXPERIMENTS IN STOCKING 237 



had a bottom of nothing but clay, and was 

 fed by a small trickle coming down an open 

 ditch, which became, however, a rushing turbid 

 flood of surface water after very heavy rain. 

 The pond was some ninety yards long by twenty 

 to thirty yards wide, and varied from two to 

 six feet in depth. Some weed (Char a fcetida) 

 appeared of its own accord, and there was a 

 natural supply of fresh water shrimps. 



In May 1887 about 200 yearling Loch Leven 

 trout from Howietown were put into this pond. 

 By the autumn of 1888 these had grown to be 

 from six ounces to half a pound in weight ; in 

 June 1889 they averaged about eleven ounces; in 

 the last half of August 1889 seven trout caught 

 with a fly weighed eight pounds, or an average 

 of over one pound apiece. In August 1890 

 eight trout caught weighed only seven pounds 

 five ounces, and the average for the whole of the 

 season was a little under one pound. This then 

 appeared to be the limit of the average weight 

 that the trout would attain if the pond were 

 kept stocked. 



In February 1890 I put in seventy-five two 

 year old Salmo fontinalis % and with these I had 



