THE STEW. 165 



store fish, but not so level as I have had. Some 

 few were rather small, and a fair number extra 

 large, but the great bulk were not less than 

 five inches in length, and quite equal to the 

 yearlings sold by the leading pisciculturists. 

 Fish delivered by amateurs never show equal to 

 those sent out by professionals, as the latter 

 follow the plan of sizing them by the length and 

 charging accordingly. Thus 1000 six-inch year- 

 lings would be priced at ^25 or ^30, while 

 four-inch fish would be about half the price, 

 and the quite undersized ones are not supposed 

 to be delivered the same year, but are grown 

 by extra feeding into fair two-year-olds for the 

 next season. 



When purchasing yearlings to be turned into 

 a river, uniformity of size is not a matter of 

 primary importance; the smaller ones find their 

 way into thin water on the shallows, and the 

 larger to places where the depth is greater, 

 each thus taking a position in water best suited 

 to its condition. Penned up in a stew, how- 

 ever, the large ones monopolise the food and 

 grow rapidly, while the small ones are bullied 

 and cowed until they are too frightened to feed, 

 and remain small and stunted. 



It must be explained that the amateur who 

 had bred these fish follows out the late 

 Mr. Andrews' plan of feeding sparingly on 



