62 TROUT CULTURE. 



Clay is the great thing here ; good strong holding 

 clay is, as it were, the key-stone to the bridge of 

 success. Neither fishes, nor rats, nor voles, the last 

 two the greatest enemies the pisciculturist has to face, 

 will burrow through it. Back up the clay with a lot 

 of brick-bats, flints, or such rough stones as the nature 

 of the soil and neighbourhood may afford in a word, 

 make a good sound lasting job of it. A sovereign or 

 two spent at first may save ;ioo in fish before long. 



As to size, that depends on the volume of water, 

 number of fishes to be reared, and various other 

 matters, nearly all of which must be left to the judg- 

 ment of the operator. Small ponds are, as a rule, 

 better than big ones ; they are more easily cleaned, 

 netted, and protected than large ones ; if a bit of a 

 water-logged tree can be found, stud it with tenter- 

 hooks, and sink it with a rope attached to the bank 

 under water, and the poachers, if they come, will find 

 more than they bargain for. Wire-netting may be 

 stretched around the ponds to keep off herons ; these 

 pests like to steal quietly down a slope into the stream 

 or pond, and cannot abide wire-work ; they give a 

 squall and fly away. Alarm-guns, as made by Mr. 

 Burgess, of Malvern Wells, are also good ; they, if set 

 at the right height, scare both herons and men, and 

 tell the keeper that someone is about. 



In turning the well-grown fry out of the feeding- 

 boxes the hand-net is used. It should be about the 

 size of the feeding-box in width, with a good bag of 

 cap-netting. Time has to be saved and the work 

 done as expeditiously as possible. When the last few 

 have to be caught shut off the water supply, and 

 syphon off all the water into a pail with a tight-fitting 



