ARTIFICIAL CULTIVATION OF PISH. C1X 



The mode of spawning- or stripping- fish, as salmon or trout, requires 

 practice, and the experienced fish-culturist will obtain a larger supply of 

 eggs from a ripe fish than will an inexperienced or careless manipulator. 

 Having obtained what appears to be a fish in a suitable condition, gentle 

 pressure along the abdomen must be exercised, when ova from the female or 

 milt from the male should be forthcoming ; occasionally the former sex will 

 require a little coaxing, as she will not. always yield at the first attempt. 

 If the eggs are not quite ready the distended abdomen feels hard and 

 somewhat unyielding ; whereas in ripe fish it is soft, and the ova can be 

 felt moving under pressure of the hand. It may be necessary to detain 

 these fish in suitable receptacles for a few days, either because the eggs or 

 milt are not quite ripe, or else consequent upon only fishes of one sex 

 having been taken. 



The necessary apparatus for spawning fish consists of a shallow tin or 

 earthenware pan, for receiving the eggs and milt, and which is furnished 

 with a spout for the purpose of pouring them into the tin carrying-can, this 

 latter having a perforated lid; also a jug for clean water, and a dry cloth 

 is useful for assisting in holding the fish. The fish is held with its body 

 somewhat sideways, and its tail directed downwards, while the pan to 

 receive the eggs is placed below its vent, when by means of simple pressure, 

 commencing from the ventral fins and passing downwards along the belly 

 towards the vent, the eggs or milt are extruded. 



There are two processes which may be adopted, the moist or water plan, 

 and the dry. In the first some water is first placed in the pan which 

 receives the eggs as pressed from the fish. In the dry process, on the 

 contrary, the eggs are directly received into a dry pan, over them the milt 

 is distributed, and the pan is gently agitated from side to side ; after giving 

 the eggs and milt time to mix, water is . poured in to the depth of a few 

 inches, stirred with the hand, and allowed to stand until they have hardened 

 and freed (see page lxvi), a period of from one quarter to three quarters of. 

 an hour, according to the temperature, taking longest in cold water. The 

 eggs must be properly cleansed by gently pouring clean water over them, 

 and when this is no longer discoloured, the eggs may be transferred from 

 the receiving to the carrying-can, which transference should not take place 

 too soon. Any milt left on the eggs will cause injury in the hatching 

 troughs, so should be thoroughly washed off. The most prolific milt seems 

 to be of medium consistence. The eggs are now removed to the incubation 

 house.* Irrespective of the foregoing, plans have been successfully adopted 

 in some fish establishments in the United States to permit breeding-fish to 



* For directions as to hatchiug and rearing young fish, the carriage of eggs and young, and 

 the stocking of pieces of water, the reader is referred to the various existing works on fish-culture. 



