152 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



of board or marble slab, and the liver grated on it ; 

 what goes through will for the most part be fine 

 enough for the fish to eat. There are other ways of 

 preparing the liver, I am aware; but you can prepare 

 as much this way in ten minutes, as by any other 

 method that I know of in half an hour. It was for- 

 merly thought best to feed the liver and curd to the 

 fish through a small fine screen, so that no particles 

 should fall to the bottom and remain unconsumed 

 because of being too large, but since the discovery 

 of the use of earth in absorbing the foul matter col- 

 lecting on the bottom this precaution is unnecessary ; 

 still there is no objection to it, except that it is not 

 so simple and makes more work. 



The method of feeding adopted at the Cold Spring 

 trout ponds is to mix the curd and prepared liver on 

 a small paddle, say eighteen inches long and three 

 wide at the blade, with a common case-knife, taking 

 care to pulverize and separate the particles with the 

 knife very thoroughly. The blade is then dipped in 

 the water and the food moistened. It is then mixed 

 and pulverized still more with the flat blade of the 

 knife, very much as a glazier mixes putty, or a painter 

 his paint, on a pallet. When sufficiently moistened 

 and separated, to prevent any adhesion of the parti- 

 cles the paddle is again dipped in the water, and 

 little by little the food is washed off, till the fish have 

 had enough. When you first make your appearance, 

 the fish, whether from playfulness or from actual fear, 

 will dart away and try to get out of sight, but the 

 presence of the food in the water will soon attract 



