130 MAKING A FISHERY. 



from the supposed taint of artificial feeding and 

 artificial breeding. 

 Advantages The majority of modern pisciculturists are of 



of introducing , , 



fresh strain. opinion that natural reproduction is of minor 

 importance as compared with the benefits 

 accruing from turning in artificially- hatched 

 trout. It may be argued that it is so manifestly 

 to the advantage of the fish breeder to en- 

 courage the purchase of store fish for stocking, 

 that his opinion on this point must be accepted 

 with a certain amount of reservation. Ex- 

 perience however goes to prove that where no 

 fresh blood has been introduced for many years, 

 the trout are in worse condition, and give less 

 sport, and that in such cases stocking with a 

 new strain is invariably productive of good 

 results in subsequent generations. To this ex- 

 tent we are all in accord with the pisciculturist ; 

 but when he attempts to summarise this in the 

 statement that the natural spawning of the trout 

 in the river is a quantite negligeable, we at 

 once join issue with him. The stock of fish in 

 a river cannot be adequately kept up, either in 

 quantity or quality, without turning in fish 

 purchased from outside sources, but at the same 

 time the successful deposition and fertilisation 

 of the indigenous ova, as well as the hatching 

 out and growth of the young trout, should be 

 in every way fostered and encouraged. 



