WATER CULTURE COMPARED WITH LAND CULTURE. 007 



not only destroying the nest utterly but devouring- with apparent 

 gusto all the eggs which were so carefully housed. By instinct 

 the must favorable spots, as where a brook comes in, or a spring 

 bubbles up from the bottom, are Jirst chosen, and these will be 

 dug over half a dozen times, perhaps, before the last pair visits it 

 and secures it for their young. Nevertheless, the perils of the 

 embryotic state are not over by any means, for all creatures that 

 live on or in the water seem to be fond of fish-roe. Eels wriggle 

 about it, ducks poke their bills among the stones to reach it, little 

 shiners and minnows devour it, and water-bugs of many varieties 

 live on it. Nor is that all ; sediment settles on it, silt washes 

 over and smothers it, and fungus grows on it. It must be free to 

 a steady flow of water or it will perish, and one bad egg will 

 contribute the contagion to a dozen healthy ones. 



The wonder is not that fish are so scarce, but that there are any 

 at all. Still, some of it hatches, and what have we now ? A poor, 

 miserable little fish, half an inch long, left to his own resources in 

 the world to get his breakfast, dinner and tea as best he can ; and 

 not only that, but actually loaded down with a big bag like an 

 extra belly, which he must carry about with him and which im- 

 pedes his every motion for thirty days. No wonder he hides his 

 head under the stones and falls an easy prey to enemies too 

 numerous to mention. Suppose he makes his way to shallow 

 water, and there near the shore he hides till he has gathered 

 strength and activity. He has to wait from six to eighteen 

 months before he can venture to the sea, for were the fry in their 

 then condition placed in salt water they would perish at once. 

 The eggs are laid in November or December and the fry appear in 

 January, February, or March, according to the temperature of 

 the water — the warmer the water, the quicker the young hatch, 

 but the more slowly they are developed the stronger they are 

 supposed to be, their period of gestation varying from seventy- 

 five to one hundred and twenty days. Next fall about one half of 

 them will change their appearance and become covered with visi- 

 ble scales. They are then technically called smolts, and the 

 scales, smolt scales, and they are then ready to descend to the 

 sea. The residue will not undergo their change till a year later, 

 when they also will seek a new life. When they have attained 

 this age they are, comparatively speaking, safe, and are pretty 

 sure to return the following spring as grilse, which is the sporting . 

 name of a salmon that has not spawned, and will weigh from two 



