GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 235 



2. Give them plenty of food. Trout will not grow 

 in exact proportion to the food which is given them, 

 because their growth is modified by so many other 

 conditions ; but you may be sure of this, that the 

 more you feed them, and the more often, under any 

 conditions, the better they will grow. 



3. Keep them where the water warms up in the 

 summer, say to 65 or nearly 70. You cannot grow 

 trout fast or large in very cold water. Feed them and 

 care for them the best you can, they must, neverthe- 

 less, have comparatively warm water ; and in such 

 water, with plenty of food, range, and space, their rate 

 of growth is simply wonderful. 



4. Give them range. If you want to grow your trout 

 very large, you must give them range. I say if you 

 want to grow them very large. Range is not neces- 

 sary, by any means, to the average growth of trout, for 

 they will grow to a very good size in small places, and 

 it is also generally incompatible with trout growing as 

 a business to give them great range ; but, if you want 

 to raise the very largest trout, you must give them the 

 very largest range. Trout will not grow beyond a cer- 

 tain size in confinement. They will stop or nearly 

 stop growing when they have reached a certain limit. 

 Range also influences the rate of growth. Large 

 ponds grow trout faster, as a rule, than small ponds. 

 Put ten trout into a pool three feet square, and ten 

 others in a pond three rods square, and those in the 

 pond will grow very much faster than those in the 

 pool, on the same food. In a pond of three acres 

 they would grow faster yet. 



