inct groups. One at the upper end where the current comes in
and is strongest, and one at the lower end. The fish at the upper end
are the strongest and largest. This difference becomes more marked as
time goes on, and in six or eight weeks after they have begun to feed
the larger fish will be almost double the size of the smaller. In the
middle of April, if many fry are in each box, they should be thinned
out, and other boxes brought into use. The smaller fish may then be
taken from one or two boxes and put into another by themselves. In
feeding care should be taken that the small and weakly fish get a fair
share of the food.

No matter how carefully the feeding is managed, some of the food is sure
to escape the young fish and sink to the bottom. This, if left as it is,
will decay and cause great mischief. A very simple and easily applied
remedy for this evil exists in the use of mould dissolved in the water.
Livingstone Stone recommends the mould under a sod, and I have always
used this with the most beneficial effect. Earth, besides covering up
and deodorizing the decomposing food at the bottom, also contains some
materials which are apparently necessary to the well-being of trout. To
quote again from Livingstone Stone, who was the discoverer of this use
of mould: "Earth or mud is the last thing one would suppose suitable for
a fish so associated in our minds with pure, clean water; yet it is an
indispensable constituent in the diet of young trout, and unless they
get it, either naturally or artificially, they will not thrive."

The effect of earth given in this way upon the young fish is simply
marvellous. They become more lively and feed more freely. This is the
effect of a spate--which is, after all, only a dose of earth--upon wild
trout.

The mould should be mixed with water in a bucket, and, when the water is
very thick and muddy, poured into the rearing boxes. The water in the
rearing boxes should be so thick that neither the bottom nor the young
fish, except when they come to the surface to take some passing particle
of food, can be seen. The amateur should not wait till something goes
wrong before giving this dose of earth; it is advisable to give it once
a week at any rate, and oftener if the fish seem to be ailing in any
way.

In dealing with the subject of food for the young fish, I would begin by
impressing upon my reader that the greater variety of food he can give
the better it will be for the fish.