The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1885-07-04

Seth Green, IN the American Angler.

Seth Green, an the American Angler.
There are many questions concerning
the growth OF brook trout which l am
frequently called upon to answer. l
am we'll aware of the fact that it is very
difficult to answer these questions with
any degree of positiveness, for the rea-
son that these fish differ in size and
growth in nearly every locality, and
then again the speckled trout which in
habit lakes are known to attain larger
growth than a speckled trout of the
streams. Taking these two features in
to consideration, correct general re-
ply would be impossible.
For careful measurements of book
trout taken from Caledonia Spring
Creek am enabled to give the follow
ing dimensions:
A brook or speckled trout when first
hatched is nine-sixteenths of an inch
long, at six months old two inches long,
at one year old four and one-half inch
es long, at two years old six and one
half inches long, at three years old
eight inches long, at four years old
nine inches long, at five years old ten
inches long, at six years old twelve
inches long. After they have reached
the age of six years their increase in
length is usually very slow, but they
are like old men, they increase in breadth
and thickness. These measurements
are fair average, but fish are like peo-
pie and animals; some grow faster than
others under the same conditions, and
frequently two-year-old trout will be
as large as the three-year-old.
Some waters are much better supplied
with food than others, and this regu-
lates their growth more than any one
thing, but there is no question about
there being large and small families of
trout, the same as there are large and
small families of horses and cattle, and
no matter how well supplied with food
or how favorable the conditions were,
the small family would never equal the
large in point of size.
As rule, trout are found to grow in
proportion to the size of the stream in
which they are found. 1 have known
of streams in which trout exceeding a
half-pound weight are very rarely caught,
and they would be considered as large
for that stream as pound trout would
for another. Brook trout sent from
this locality to Long Island waters will
far outstrip those of the same brood re-
naming here. l attribute it to the
food found there and also to the salt
they get. 1t is my opinion that fish
crave salt the same as a deer, and a
little given them occasionally is of great
benefit.
The largest speckled trout I ever saw
which was caught in brook weighed
four pounds and two ounces and meas
ured eighteen inches in length. The
largest speckled trout 1 ever heard of
was caught in the Rangely lakes, Maine,
which, ifmy memory serves me correct
ly, weighed ten and one-quarter pounds.
B@~"The car record department oi
the Pennsylvania Railroad is the most
perfect piece of business machinery in
the world" said an old railroader the
other evening. Then he went on to
explain. At the office in Philadelphia
they know the whereabouts of every
car owned by the company. If it is on
the road, in the shops, on siding, in
a yard, being loaded or unloaded, they
have it all in black and white. Twen'
ty-four hours is allowed for the unload
ing of a car, and if the work is moi
done in that time along comes tele'
gram asking what is the matter, and i
the car has been put on the move where
it was sent to. They know the name
of the engineer and conductor of tht
train to which the car was attached
and put pointed questions that invaria
bly, bring the information they are il
search of. If a car is down in New
Orleans, or out in Michigan or in Har
risburg or Philadelphia, they know it
and if they don't, they can trace it t.
where it was last heard from and fine
its whereabouts in a very short time.-
Every day this record is revised and tn
system is such that a mistake never oc
ours. 1t is a wonderful thing. Ifever
business was run with the exactness o
the Pennsylvania Railroad system, ther
would be few failures.
B@-"Husking bees are in order,
: says an exchange. We tried to husk
/ bee once and he got the best of us.