310 SALMON AND TROUT. 
and even its surroundings, if not distinctly picturesque, will 
have a certain rural charm. ‘The level line of water along 
which he plies his craft has at least its green fringe and its 
border of fields to rest and refresh his eye ; and if along with 
a few fish for the ‘missis’ he can carry home a bunch of 
marsh marigolds or forget-me-nots, a yellow iris, or a spike of 
purple loose-strife for the ‘kids,’ he will be well pleased with 
his humble trophies. 
Philanthropy in our England takes a thousand forms ; an 
association for stocking the open waters nearest to our towns 
with the best fish they are capable of feeding would be a bene- 
ficent and popular novelty. And I feel sure that if ever the 
experiment be tried on a large scale, no little surprise will be 
felt even by experienced anglers at the ease with which trout 
will adapt themselves to waters apparently unpromising. 
I have pointed out, under the general head of ‘ Flies,’ the 
chief ingredients of that insect diet on which trout so largely 
subsist. But as that diet is, for reasons already mentioned, 
becoming scantier in many of our best streams, we should do 
well to study the means of supplementing it with other kinds of 
food. It is, I am afraid, useless to attempt restoring the larger 
LEphemere in waters whence they have died out, drainage and 
weed cutting remaining the same. The flies are too delicate 
to be fit for breeding after a long journey, and it would be 
difficult to obtain the larvee in sufficient quantities to give the 
experiment a fair chance of success. As regards the Phry- 
ganeg, there are some neighbourhoods where a few sharp lads 
might gather ‘caddis’ almost by the bushel for turning out in 
the adjacent trout stream. But this could only be worth while 
in a land of spring ditches and shallow drains, and even then 
it is by no means sure that the stock of flies could be perma- 
nently increased. 
In streams where the trout run large much might, I think, 
be done by providing them with cheap fish dinners. A trout 
over two pounds weight generally becomes ‘ piscivorous’ if he 
