be 
NINTH ANNUAL MEETING. 63 
washed away or devoured by the larger fish, or unless fed they 
will starve. 
Questions on this point, answered by fish-culturists in the 
majority of cases, seem to give but very little satisfaction to the 
inquirer, for by a word, after you supposed that matter all settled, 
you will see he is troubled about it yet. 
For the benefit of all such I would say, if you have put fry 
into your brook, don’t worry; go to bed and rest, feeling you 
have done your part. Rest assured that nature and their natural 
instincts will bring them through all right. 
In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred the young fry turned 
loose in stream or pond, and allowed to take care of themselves, 
will bring forth at the end of the year a much larger per cent. 
and better fish in every respect than can be produced by confine- 
ment and artificial food. 
I have found that the male trout, after three or four years of 
confinement, becomes almost barren; that is, the yearly supply | 
of milt becomes very limited. One good wild-trout will im- 
pregnate more eggs than a half dozen domesticated ones. 
In a liquid form, resembling milk (see male and female spe- 
cimens). 
Infgrmation is often asked as to which is the best kind of a 
screen for the outlet of a pond. 
I have been troubled very seriously in the fall and early 
winter with leaves, etc., floating down against the screens and 
choking them up, causing an overflow of the pond. 
The trouble is not so much in the day time, when we can 
watch the ponds, but during a windy night, after the ground is 
covered with leaves; in the morning you will often find your 
pond full and running over, and if it contains yearling fish, or 
smaller, you will find many have escaped or lay on the bank 
dead. 
I had suffered in this way several times, when I thought some 
plan might be hit upon so that the difficulty would be remedied, 
‘and so made something like the model, which you will see will 
not allow the surface-water or leaves on the surface to clog the 
outlet during one night or more. After putting this in use the 
