56 
The importance of the fact that this food is furnished 
free of cost will easily be understood; and the circum- 
stance that it is quickly distributed all over the basin 
renders it certain that all the young fish will get their 
share of food. One-third of the food is served to the 
trout in the stone basin, where the trout of the season of 
1886 may now be seen. Such is the result of confining 
the fish for sixteen months. 
No sun, no vegetation, no hiding places, no quiet 
retreats along the banks; and in spite of these conditions, 
which a theorist would consider disadvantageous, these 
trout measure 18 to 22 centimeters (73 to 8% inches) in 
length. And to what is this owing? Simply to the 
abundance of food and the impossibility of finding 
hiding places. The crustaceans are devoured as soon as 
they are put in the basin, as there is no place where they 
could hide. It would be hard to find yearling wild trout 
as strong and fat as those which have been confined in 
the basins ever since the umbilical bag has been con- 
sumed. 
Since the month of October last, the piscicultural 
establishment at Piedra has been rented by the Govern- 
ment. At this time there may be seen at the raising- 
basin thousands of this year’s trout which have already 
reached an average length of 7 centimeters (2$ inches). 
These basins swarm with crustaceans, and nevertheless 
the three daily rations are never omitted. If one asks 
the fishermen as to the harvest of small shrimps, they 
invariably answer: “The more we take, the more there 
seems to be.” 
If the Government will construct inclosed basins on 
the existing model, it might try to acclimatize exotic 
species without fear of hybridization, which is an import- 
ant point. 
Mr. Raveret-Wattel points out the way to re-stock the 
rivers not only with young fish, but also with trout eight, 
ten and fourteen months old, as is done in Scotland with 
