404 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



flesh per week will be sufficient, and during the hot 

 weather even less than this amount. During the 

 autumn the quantity can be gradually increased, and 

 the maximum, as stated before, of 14 lb. per week 

 should be reached, say, early in January, and the 

 feeding should be continued on this scale until, say, 

 the middle of March, when the two-year-olds should 

 be turned into the stream. 



The so-called Rainbow trout {Salmo irideus) was 



introduced to this country 

 Rainbow trout. from the United States many 



years ago. It is probably the 

 most beautiful fish of the genus. It is a grand fighter 

 and grows rapidly to a great weight. It is also said 

 to be the very best of all trout for the table. At first 

 the English pisciculturists imagined that it might 

 easily be acclimatized and would, in our rivers, prove 

 a great boon to the angler. Unfortunately it has a 

 decided propensity to work down the river, and in fact 

 it is a moot point whether, at any rate in this country, 

 it should not be classified among the migratory, or 

 anadromous, species of the Salmonidae. 



When turned into lakes where this tendency to 

 migrate can be defeated, it has proved to some extent 

 a success. There is, however, a growing mass of 

 evidence that in some lakes rainbow trout, after giving 

 excellent sport to the angler for a time — say until they 

 reach about 3 lb. in weight — cease to be in evidence, 

 and in many cases disappear as absolutely as if they 

 had gone to sea. Their disappearance, the impossi- 



