GROWING THE LARGE TROUT. 239 



this way, came the best of any they had ever had in 

 the house. Yet his house is one hundred and twenty 

 miles from the ponds. 



The best time to kill fish for the table is, as a rule, 

 that season of the year which is the antipodes of the 

 spawning season. The best time, therefore, to begin 

 to market trout is in the spring, just after their spring 

 appetite comes on. They are then hard and plump, 

 and in first-rate condition. From then till July they 

 do very well to market. After that they steadily de- 

 teriorate. As the spawning season approaches, their 

 flesh weighs less compared with their size. They 

 gain very much in weight between April ist and July 

 ist, sometimes fifty per cent and over, which makes 

 it desirable on that account to hold them till July. On 

 the other hand, the prices are best at the beginning of 

 the season, and fall very considerably by July. My 

 trout, sent to Fulton Market, New York, and sold on 

 commission, April i, 1871, brought $ 1.25 per pound. 

 Before the month was out the price had fallen to 

 90 cents. 



The question as to the age at which it is most profit- 

 able to market trout is an important one. I think that 

 it is the spring of the fourth or fifth year. It cannot 

 be earlier than this, for the trout get some of their 

 best, if not their very best, growth the third year, and 

 to kill them before they are three years old would cut 

 off nearly all the increase from them. 



There are also reasons why they are most profitably 

 killed before they are older than four years. The 

 ratio of their growth to the cost of keeping has then 



