STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 57 



river trout, (salmo fario,) and some small eels 

 were also found. The trout weighed from 1 Ib. to 

 1J Ibs., and were supposed to have been mis- 

 chievously put into the pond unknown to the 

 keeper. We cut them open, and found them all 

 gorged with smoults so they must have reduced 

 the numbers of the inmates daily. 



The whole of the hatching of 1854 having now 

 left for the sea, Mr Buist reports on it "That 

 the first of the fry that left the ponds as smoults 

 in 1855 was on the 19th of May; the last on 

 the 7th of June. No more left that year. The 

 first of the same brood, which remained as parr 

 all last season, assumed the smoult scales in 

 April, 1856. The first division went off on the 

 28th of April, and the last on the 24th of May. 

 In both years they went off daily in divisions, 

 from the first to the last day. About 1300 were 

 marked in 1855, and several returned as stated 

 in my report. The number marked in 1856 was 

 300 with rings, and 800 with cuts in the tail. 

 Taking one in each hundred as marked, it may 

 be reckoned thus: Left the pond in 1855, 

 130,000; do. in 1856, 100,000; total, 230,000. 

 We shall anxiously look for the appearance of the 

 silver rings." Although many grilse were re- 



