FIRST YEAR. 115 



them, tempting morsel, and disturbance of the 

 ponds at least will take place. Most of these evils 

 can be avoided by placing over the offal a nail- 

 keg, upside down ; through a hole in the inverted 

 bottom passes a strong wire, hooked at each ex- 

 tremity ; on one end is placed the offal, the other 

 hooks upon a wire supported by posts and pass- 

 ing over the pond ; a few half-inch holes are bored 

 in the sides to afford easy access to the flies. By 

 this arrangement not only is the offal protected, 

 but, being shaded, it does not dry up as speedily 

 as when exposed to the direct rays of the sun. It 

 is out of sight, and the odor is, to say the least, 

 greatly diminished. The importance of this vari- 

 ety of food can not be over-estimated. It is the 

 nearest approach which we can obtain to the in- 

 sects which form so great a part of the food of 

 trout in streams, and even if some inconvenience 

 to the eyes and nostrils is occasioned by it, must 

 be in some way supplied. During one season, 

 disgusted by the odor, we depended upon an in- 

 creased supply of meat as food for our young 

 trout, omitting entirely the maggots ; but the small 

 size attained by the fishes during the year, less 

 than half that of the preceding, when less meat 

 and more maggots were fed, warned us not to 

 repeat the experiment. 

 The supply of water should be carefully regu- 



