SELECTION. 7 



first-rate condition would seldom, if ever, 

 exceed ^lb. in weight. He, however, admitted, 

 on seeing the register, that the number of large 

 trout, of 2-Jlb. and upwards, surprised him, as 

 he had never taken one approaching this size, 

 and never suspected that the river contained 

 any of such weight. It was not astonishing 

 that in olden times they killed a far greater 

 number, as their limit was cjin., and ours 13m. 



If a river is subject to heavy floods, or if it Food supply. 

 runs down very much in dry summers, the pre- 

 sumption is that the trout in it are not likely to 

 be free risers, and most frequently, too, in such 

 cases, the supply of food is insufficient for a 

 large head of fish. The question of food can, 

 however, be ascertained by anyone beyond 

 doubt, if he will only take the trouble to dredge 

 with a small net made of cheese cloth among 

 the weeds as well as on the bed of the stream 

 and carriers flowing into it. He should turn the 

 net out into a small quantity of water in a white 

 pudding basin, and examine the contents. In 

 all the better class of chalk streams, such as 

 the Test, Kennet, Itchen, &c, the basin would 

 contain a very great number of living creatures, 

 consisting, among the Crustaceans, chiefly of 

 shrimps (Gammarus pulex) and water wood lice 

 {Asellus aquaticus) ; among the Molluscae, the 

 various genera of water snails, Univalves, such 



