STOCKING 379 



is well to consider what are the available means of 



doing this, and what are the 

 Methods of stocking. respective advantages and dis- 

 advantages of these various 

 methods. There are known to me six distinct methods, 

 and they are as follows : (i) With wild fish, (2) with 

 large stew-fed, artificially hatched fish which are sizable 

 or larger when turned in, (3) with two-year-olds, (4) 

 with yearlings, (5) with feeding-fry, and (6) with alevins 

 or eyed ova laid on artificial redds. 



At the first blush it would almost appear that the 



plan of using wild fish of 



Stocking with wild good average size is the most 



fish. desirable. The fish are all 



sizable and fit to kill from the 

 very outset, and being free from any possible taint 

 caused by artificial breeding or artificial rearing 

 should be far better able to take care of themselves 

 than any which have come from the pisciculturist's 

 ponds. If there is any tangible foundation for the 

 theory that hand-feeding during adolescence is likely to 

 engender a disinclination on the part of the adult trout 

 to partake freely of surface food, these wild fish should 

 be likely to rise better than any which have been 

 grown in the trout-breeder's ponds. So much for the 

 apparent advantages. 



On the other side of the question there are two, 

 unsurmountable obstacles to this method of stocking. 

 The first of these is that a few minutes' consideration 

 will convince the lessee of a fishery that if he is going 



