BROOK TROUT 



tainty that he can foretell the results in his hatchery. 

 Wild waters are always presenting problems to be 

 worked out, to insure the success of fish propagation 

 in them, because the conditions are not always constant 

 in any particular water, and conditions change with 

 different waters. In planting fish in a territory so ex- 

 tensive as is comprised within the boundaries of the 

 State of New York, it is a most difficult matter to de- 

 termine in advance what conditions exist in all waters 

 that the State is called upon to stock. 



Streams that were once natural trout-streams may 

 have become unfit for trout, through lack of shade and 

 the drying up of the fountain-head during a part of 

 the season, caused by lumbering operations. A stream 

 well shaded by forest growth may provide water of a 

 temperature for trout, and when the axe has opened 

 the stream to the sun, the temperature of the water 

 may rise to such a degree that trout cannot live in it. 

 Not one applicant in fifty who asks for trout-fry gives 

 the temperature of the water to be planted with any 

 positiveness. A stream that is a roaring torrent in the 

 spring during the melting of the snows, and is after- 

 ward a mere thread of warm water, is not a proper 

 stream for trout of any kind. As a matter of fact, I 

 have seen a brook absolutely dry in the month of Au- 

 gust that was planted with trout the preceding May, 

 and probably it was planted in good faith by the per- 

 son who applied for and obtained the trout from the 

 State. 



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