CONCLUDING CHAPTER. 245 



two-year-olds, than it does in the country to keep a 

 horse, and what would keep a pair of horses at a sta- 

 ble in the city would enable a man to turn out five 

 thousand pound of trout a year. 



The current expenses of a trout-breeding establish- 

 ment consist of three classes, viz. : i. The rent of the 

 place or the interest on the original outlay, plus* the 

 wear and tear, which together should be reckoned at 

 12%. 2. The care of the fish, which is not much for 

 a small stock of trout, and grows (comparatively) less 

 the more fish you have. 3. The cost of feed, which 

 is very small, amounting, perhaps, to 3 cents a pound. 

 All which items of expense do not make the full- 

 grown trout cost over 15 or 20 cents a pound, if suc- 

 cessfully raised. 



On the other hand, trout bring from 50 cents a 

 pound to $ 1.25, 75 cents being, I should say, a fair 

 average, at the present time, in the neighborhood of 

 Boston and New York. 



Here we see a large margin for profit, and I think it 

 is a fair one, when a man raises his trout successfully. 

 It all depends on this, of course. If he cannot keep 

 his trout alive and secure, he cannot expect to make 

 anything at the business. 



I should say the following estimate approximated 

 the truth : 



If you have first-rate water facilities, and should 

 hatch 20,000 young fry and raise them all to be four 

 years old on food at 3 cents a pound, they would cost 

 you, after you began to market the fish, not over 18 

 cents a pound. If you raise half, all your expenses 



