necessary in
rearing other fish. What is good enough for trout is good enough for
most fish, therefore I think that I shall be right in describing trout
culture at considerable length, and dealing with other fish in a
somewhat summary manner. The difference in the management, etc., of
other fish I shall point out after describing how to rear trout.

To begin with, the amateur must not suppose that because he puts fish
into a stream or pond he will succeed in stocking that water or
increasing the head of fish. There are many other things to be
considered. The river, stream, or pond must be of a suitable character
for the fish, and there must be plenty of food. I am sure that it is
much more important to consider carefully whether the water is suitable,
and contains a proper supply of food, than to consider how the fish are
to be obtained, for recourse may always be had to a professional fish
culturist--fish of almost any kind and any age can be bought ready
made.

The point I would impress upon the amateur more forcibly than anything
else, is that he should be sure that there is plenty for his fish to eat
in the water, before he thinks of putting them into it. It is for this
reason that I devote my next chapter chiefly to the stocking of waters
with food and to the improvement of the food supply in waters where some
food already exists.

CHAPTER II

STOCKING WATERS WITH FOOD

It may seem somewhat superfluous to say that fish cannot live in any
water unless that water contains the food supply necessary for them to
thrive upon, and yet this is the point most often overlooked in stocking
waters with fish. Small attempts at stocking with creatures suitable for
food, particularly after the fish have been already introduced, are not
at all likely to succeed. Such an important matter when treated as a
small afterthought is almost sure to end in failure of the whole
business of stocking.

But a small amount of thought will convince any one that in order that
there may be a sufficient amount of animal life in a water, there must
be an adequate vegetable life, for weeds are almost always necessary to
the well-being of the creatures which serve as food for fishes.

In the case of a pond it is generally fairly easy to introduce a good
stock of suitable weeds. The best method is to let the pond down as low
as possible, and then to plant some weeds round the margin; the water is
then allowed to gradually fill up the