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. He should also give them, at any rate after they have been feeding some weeks, a certain proportion of natural food. Probably the best of all food for the fry is pounded shrimps or other crustaceans. It is, however, difficult in the very early stages of the trout's life to pound shrimps up small enough, and the little fish are much given to trying to swallow pieces of food which are too large for them to manage. This evil proclivity often causes the death of the fry, and therefore great care must be taken that no pieces of food which are too large, get into the rearing box. Pounded liver shaken up in a bottle with water, and after the larger particles have been allowed to settle at the bottom, poured into the rearing box in small quantities, is a good form of food for the alevins when they first begin to feed. The yolks of eggs boiled for about half an hour and pounded up, dog biscuit very finely pounded, or the fine food supplied by several of the fish cultural establishments are also excellent. In giving moist food such as pounded shrimps, liver, meat, or the yolks of eggs, a good plan while the fry are very small is to put the food in a small net made of fine muslin mounted on a wire ring, and dipping the end of this net into the water, allow small particles to escape through the muslin. This ensures no large pieces getting into the rearing boxes. As the fry grow larger, these precautions are of course modified, as the little fish are capable of swallowing larger pieces of food.