STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 43 



were fed with boiled ox and sheep liver ground 

 small, almost no deaths occurred, and by the 

 time the fry were a year old, by far the greater 

 part had grown as large as the parrs found in the 

 river; and well they might, for they fed greedily, 

 and it was an interesting sight to witness them 

 getting their food. 



We were at a loss to account for the difference 

 in size which was discoverable amongst the fry 

 at this period, for all were within a few weeks of 

 the same age the keeper thought that the small 

 ones were kept by the larger ones from getting as 

 much food as they required. The same difference 

 in size at this time is found to be the rule also in 

 the river, and those that we have reared ourselves, 

 though equally and liberally fed, still showed the 

 same difference. It was thought that the small 

 fry might be from the ova of grilse, but this 

 theory was put to the test afterwards, by keeping 

 the fry of salmon and grilse distinct, and, amongst 

 both, the same disparity in size appeared. Mr 

 Shaw of Drumlanrig, the first who had experi- 

 mented successfully on the artificial hatching and 

 rearing of salmon fry, stated that the fish in the 

 pond would not become smoults until another 

 year; while Mr Andrew Young of Invershin, who 



