The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-10 00:00:00

Trout Breeding in Windsor Great Park.

There are two or three hundred acres of artificial
water on the royal domain ; the oldest piece of
which is a small lake near the east end •of Virginia
Water, where an old monastery stood in Henry the
Eighth's time. They are all stocked with jack, carp,
tench, &c., some of which are of a very great age.
About a year ago it was thought that something
better might be done, and that one good trout lake
would be worth all the remainder, if that could be
managed. Many consultations were held over the
subject, and Mr. Frank Buckland was called in to
advise. The Obelisk Pond was selected, because it
had a gravelly and sandy bottom, and a nice
little stream running through it. This Obelisk Pond
is eighteen acres in extent, and there being only two
smaller ponds up above it, it was decided to dry the
whole out. A beginning was made at the upper
ponds, which were laid dry, and every fish taken out;
then the Obelisk Pond itself was served in a similar
manner. This was chine in February, 1865, as it was
thought advisable to prevent the jack spawning for
the season. No water was allowed to remain in any
of the ponds for some weeks. About five or six cart-
loads of jack and carp were taken out, placed in a
cart with a straw bed, and taken away into another
lake.

In the spring of 1865 a temporary hatching ap-
paratus was knocked up of wood, and a small
stream of pure water, as much as would fill a half-
inch pipe, was turned on. A consignment of eggs
was then brought by Mr. Buckland, almost entirely
of the Great Lake trout of Geneva, which he
thought would do best in the-Obelisk Pond.
The ova were put in the boxes, and watched by the
fisherman. In due time they came to life, with their
little storehouse of provisions attached to them ; not
very elegant, certainly, but very useful ; like the
canny Scotchmen, two hundred years ago, who always
went out to flight with their bag of oatmeal on their
backs. _ _ .

After about a month the fish were taken out of
the boxes and put into the nursery, which was a
trough, 12 feet long, two feet wide, and one foot
six inches deep, with the stream from the hatching
boxes flowing through it. Some young salmon and
sea trout were added to them. The fisherman fed
them with bits of fine biscuit and eggs, rubbed into
crumbs ; a little later in the summer, at Mr. Back-
laud's advice, he hung up a dead rabbit, or rat, or
jackdaw, and let the maggots drop into the water.
If the food reached the bottom before they caught
it, they did not seem to care about it, but, like
true sportsmen, shot their game flying. Some water-
cresses and green weed were put in for them, to
shelter them from the sun, and to give them the
chance of catching a stray fly. A wire guard was
also put over them to keep olt kingfishers and
herons.

About July the young trout required more elbow
room, and so a large number of them were removed
to another small fish-pond, which could be protected ;
by November they could eat a good big worm, and
when one was put in the clear water, the little ras-
cals would hold a regular good tough battle over it,
and tug and pull at one another.
Messrs. Buckland and Ponder lately decided that
the fish must be put out into the
wide
world and
shift for themselves. The them were
nearly three inches long,
one inch. The lake trout are the largest, and full
of energy and mischief. a
uldar_ticise smallest about
t
• They have all, therefore,
been taken Carefullytohte
it
of their summer quarters,
and introduced Obelisk Pond, where they
will find many
nnder awaiting them.
Aso the
ed ii lake s been down all summer, there is a
fin
d ready in the shape of rushes
and other plants, which will, no doubt, in due time,
yield insects in abundance for the fish to eat.
The salmon and sea trout were also put into the
Obelisk Pond. We wonder -what they will do when
f elgground
their migratory habits (evidently of Scotch nature
again) come strong upon them?
Au exceedingly pretty rustic house has been
erected in a valley in Windsor Forest, near the pond,
for the hatching-season of 1866, and the
troughs have again been stocked, under the
Greatmanage-
Lake
manage-
ment of Mr. Frank Buckland, withhatching
with ova of trout
establishment at liuuingue), and
trout ova (presented by the French Government
and salmon from various parts of the United
Kingdom.

COURSE OF EXOILA.NGE—This Evening?

Amsterdam Short. 11 181
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251122
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221355
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Ditto .................... ..
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Berlin
Madrid — 4 G
—'44l 4
Cadiz
*
Leghorn
Milan
25 621
2
Genoa
Naples ~,,,,,..i...,.,, - 25 629

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