232 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



nothing, these or other fish, killed and run through 

 a mill such as is used for grinding mackerel bait, would 

 answer quite as well as meat. Trout like meat best, 

 but thrive well on fish food. 



4. Sour-milk curd. This makes very good food for 

 trout, though they do not like it as well as meat. 

 It is easily prepared by pouring boiling water on 

 bonny-clabber and straining out the whey. What re- 

 mains in the strainer is the curd. When milk is 

 plenty, this food is very accessible, and also not ex- 

 pensive, and makes a very good occasional substitute 

 for meat ; but an exclusive diet of curd is thought 

 to be unhealthful. 



5. Worms and insects. These, of course, with all 

 other natural food, are good for the trout. Give them 

 all you can get, which, after all, will not be much, com- 

 pared with the rest of their food, if you have many 

 trout. You can, however, breed maggots for them in 

 considerable numbers by hanging the meat over the 

 ponds and letting the flies work in it. This is called 

 a maggot factory, and, though a good food-producer, 

 especially for yearlings, is to my mind very objection- 

 able about a domestic trout pond. If you have, a pond 

 at a distance which you seldom visit, a maggot factory 

 will do very well ; but where you go every day, it is a 

 nuisance. If you do use one anywhere, contrive to 

 cover the meat with a box. This softens the objec- 

 tionableness of it somewhat. 



A few words more should be added here about the 

 care and preparation of the meat, where trout breeding 

 is practised on a large scale. At a trout breeding 



