236 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



place of eating, if they have not been disturbed ; but 

 if they have been molested they will fly about in all 

 directions, stir up the gravel, reject their food, and act 

 as if they were crazy. This is a bad sign, and when 

 you see it you may know that it means that they have 

 been molested and frightened during the night, prob- 

 ably by minks, herons, or men. 



Once a day is sufficiently often to feed the large 

 trout. They will keep fat and grow rapidly on one 

 feed a day; but I think they would grow somewhat 

 better if fed oftener and less at a time. There is not 

 much danger of their eating too much. Feed till they 

 decline the food, then stop. They will sometimes take 

 too large pieces, and so choke themselves to death, 

 and they will perhaps eat enough in the excitement of 

 feeding time to feel uncomfortably afterwards ; but 

 they are usually not gluttons enough to gorge them- 

 selves to a fatal repletion. 



Experience will teach the trout grower how much to 

 feed daily to a given number of trout. This quantity 

 varies with the season, the quality, the quantity, and 

 temperature of the water, and other circumstances, 

 and cannot be stated definitely. Green says five 

 pounds of meat a day for a thousand three-year-olds, 

 three pounds for a thousand two-year-olds. I should 

 say this would be an average feed through the year, 

 but in summer my two-year-olds and three-year-olds 

 eat much more. I think it is safe to say that under 

 favorable circumstances large trout of any age will eat 

 one fiftieth of their weight in the summer, that one per 

 cent of their weight a day will keep them in good 



