The fish farmer can always tell by looking at his trout in the morning whether they have been disturbed during the night. If they have been molested, whether by birds, mink or men, they will appear excited and frightened. The water will be discolored by the mud which they stir up as they dart back and forth near the bottom, and the trout will be nearly all hidden under stones or in the moss.

Some writers on the subject of the diseases of trout have recommended the use of a salt water bath. The fish, when they are affected, whether old or young, are transferred to a tank into which salt is gradually introduced, and it is said that this treatment will cure fungus. It is a dangerous remedy, a sort of kill or cure, that in desperate straits may be resorted to, but such straits should never be permitted to arise. It will unquestionably kill parasites, but beyond that we have little faith in it. The large fish may occasionally be cured by rubbing with sand, but both of these are heroic measures. Although the fungus may be removed by the operation, it is almost certain to grow again, and usually more extensively than at first.

There is one kind of trout which we do not possess, of which we would very much like a specimen. We mean the trout which comes to dinner at the sound of a bell, or at the call or whistle of his feeder. Many writers about fish tell us to avoid all noises around the ponds lest they frighten the fish, and to be particularly careful never to fire a gun on the grounds lest the delicate ear of the trout should be too much affected. Trout cannot hear the sound of a bell, nor the voice of their feeder, nor even his whistle, neither will they stir one traction of an inch at the sound of a gun fired one foot above their heads ; but the sight of a trout is very keen. His enemies are to be avoided by the aid of his eyes, and the trout starts and runs at every sudden motion, whether it is the shadow of the angler, or the falling of a leaf upon the water. He will be started by concussion, by a blow on the water, or a heavy step on the ground, but will mind no noise that is not accompanied with some demonstration that he can either see or feel. The angler may talk as loudly as he please, but he must approach the bank of the trout brook on tiptoe and hide behind any bush or tree. Fish are undoubtedly brought to the shore at dinner time by the ringing of a bell, but it is the motion, not the sound which attracts them. If the attendant will stand out of sight, he may ring till he is tired before his guests will put in an appearance.

Other Fish With Trout

It is not well to have other fish in the same pond with trout, they will probably destroy one another. Fish of any sort will eat the young of all kinds. Even the harmless and innocent looking goldfish will take young trout with a relish. A few sticklebacks will probably get into the ponds, but they will do no hurt unless they get among the babies two months old; the large trout will soon clear them out of their vicinity. Let the pollywogs wiggle their way in peace, and when they get to be frogs sell them or eat them,

Eels are exceedingly destructive in all waters to which they have access, and it is impossible to keep them out as they can go up the perpendicular sides of water gates and possibly over the sides of the dam when wet with a heavy rain. The only plan is to use eel-pots and keep down their numbers as much as possible. They will follow the fry into the smallest rivulets, and on one occasion we saw an eel slash around in a little brook so as to stir up the mud and foul the water, that he might make sure of his prey which had become frightened and was trying to escape from him. He finds his food by sense of smell when the water is roily.

As for goldfish, in the year 1865 we had one hundred goldfish in a pond thirty feet long, twelve feet wide, and from four feet deep to shallow places three inches deep. We put 4,000 young brook trout in the pond, and in three days the goldfish had eaten every one of them. The little trout would hide themselves in the holes in the stone wall, where they were chased by the goldfish, which would lie at the hole for hours, watching for a trout; and when the trout made his appearance they would go for him as a cat does for a mouse.