SALMON AND TROUT CULTURE. 463 
fish when first taken throw up a species of fresh-water shrimp.” 
Again, “where these gammari are most plentiful the trout 
are nearly always the largest, and of the best colour and condi- 
tion,”?! 
It appears to me that there must be some colouring matter 
in the ‘shrimp’ itself, as they turn red, or rather, a deep orange 
colour, when dead, not having been ina fish’s stomach. Trott, 
although apparently living under the same circumstances, feed 
very differently, and some may prefer one kind of food to an- 
other, doubtless caring very little whether his flesh is pink or 
white when his turn comes to be put on the table! F. Buckland, 
in his manual of Trout culture, advises the destruction of the 
‘shrimp’ as ‘vermin.’ From this dictum I must beg to differ 
entirely, maintaining on the contrary that the fresh-water 
shrimp is the fizest natural food to be found in the water. 
Doubtless they do destroy a few of the ova deposited natu- 
rally in the ponds or rivers, but not anything like the quantity 
which the parent fish and the later spawning fish devour, or 
spoil by the frequent disturbance of the spawning grounds : 
moreover, a pisciculturist takes care that his fish do not spawn 
in the ordinary pond or nursery. Even in waters which are 
not annually replenished by artificial breeding, the damage 
caused by shrimps cannot be compared with the great gain in 
respect of food by its preservation.? 
A pisciculturist protects the ova by bringing them to the 
hatching house, where no shrimps or other ‘vermin’ can 
possibly come. 
The eggs of the ‘gammari’ are exceedingly small, almost 
microscopic, and when hatched are exactly the proper sized 
mouthful for the fry, as also are the small Limnee, whose sheli 
is so delicate, that it is easily digested by young fish. 
It is one of Nature’s wise provisions that most water insects 
breed and develop at the very time when the fry begin to feed. 
1 Practical Management of Fisheries, p. 18. : 
2 See account also of trout growth-rate, when fed on water-shrimps at Lord 
Eldon's, p. 167-8. H. C,-P. 
