80 HOME FISHING AND HOME WATERS. 



as good condition as those in their natural 

 waters. 



The most successful cross I have made, and the 

 one which produced the finest fish, was between 

 brook trout and lake or salmon trout. These fish 

 were mostly beautiful in their markings, very sym- 

 metrical in shape, and were perfect hybrids in every 

 way. As with the first mentioned cross, the brook- 

 salmon trout showed marked characteristics of both 

 parents. The spots, though not as brilliant as those 

 of the speckled trout, were much brighter than those 

 of the salmon trout, but in shape they seemed to 

 more nearly resemble the lake trout than the other. 

 They breed naturally, and a fair percentage of their 

 eggs hatch. Their spawning period comes in almost 

 exactly between that of the brook trout and 

 salmon trout, which is from about October 25 to 

 November 25, the straight salmon trout com- 

 mencing earlier and the brook trout later. The size 

 of the eggs produced by the hybrids was also nearly 

 exactly between those of the respective parent fish. 

 The speckled trout eggs of Caledonia Creek measure 

 six eggs to the inch, while the salmon trout measure 

 four and a half eggs to the inch the cross com- 

 ing in between the two, measuring five eggs to 

 the inch. 



The hybrid fish have grown to a weight of over 

 five pounds, strong and vigorous fighters on the 

 hook, and equal to either of their parents as table 

 fish. We have also carried this experiment still 

 farther by crossing the hybrids with the straight 

 brook trout, giving us a fish one-fourth salmon trout 

 and three-fourths brook trout, with characteristics 



