206 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



length. A trout a foot long will eat a trout of six 

 inches, or a trout two inches long will eat a trout an 

 inch long. Cannibalism is something, too, which 

 grows on trout; and after having once tasted flesh of 

 their own kind, they, like human cannibals, prefer it, 

 and, refusing their ordinary food, they will lie in am- 

 buscade in holes and corners, where, feeding on their 

 weaker fellows, they thrive and grow better than the 

 rest. This makes the evil doubly mischievous, be- 

 cause from their new habit of hiding they are less 

 likely to be discovered, and their increased rate of 

 growth is daily putting a greater difference in size be- 

 tween them and their companions, and making them 

 more formidable. Careful sorting is the remedy, to- 

 gether with regular feeding. If these rules are ob- 

 served, there will not be much trouble or loss from the 

 trout eating one another. But there is another form 

 of cannibalism, which, though less repugnant, is more 

 injurious, namely, nibbling. The young fry when they 

 first feed are very voracious, and will nibble at the 

 tails and fins of those in front of them, and, if allowed 

 to get very hungry, will often do a great deal of injury 

 in this way, especially if much crowded. The younger , 

 they are, the more they are given to the habit, but they 

 finally outgrow it. The remedy is to give them regu- 

 lar feed and plenty of room. 



21. Overheating. This simply means being kept in 

 water that is not cold enough. As summer advances 

 and the weather grows warmer and warmer, the wa- 

 ter in your brook sometimes grows too warm for the 

 trout to live in. If that is your coldest brook the 



