VERMONT AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 97 



attempt to run the smallest hatchery on less than two gallons of 

 water per minute. 



It may be best to construct a small building for a hatchery 

 near the source of supply and save piping the water. For an 

 isolated building spring water has several advantages ; it is not 

 liable to freeze either at the intake or in the hatchery ; artificial 

 heat for the hatchery is unnecessary except for personal com- 

 fort in working over the troughs. There is one disadvantage 

 in using spring water ; the fry may develop so rapidly that 

 they will be ready for distribution before the waters to be 

 stocked are free from freshets. 



Brook water, a considerable distance from the springs 

 which are its source, may give trouble by freezing at the intake 

 or still more in the troughs, unless the hatchery is artifically 

 heated. 



Water from large lakes or ponds, if taken several feet be- 

 low the surface, gives an even and favorable temperature for 

 hatching eggs slowly. Do not take water from a bog or stagnant 

 pond. Eggs and fry need air which is taken through the medi- 

 um of clear, sparkling water.' 



The water may be conducted in pipes of lead, iron or wood, 

 the same which are used in conducting water to your house for 

 domestic purposes. It is preferable to use pipe two or three 

 times larger than is absolutely necessary to give the requisite 

 volume of water and the following statement may be used as a 

 guide as to the size of pipe required: — "A straight cylindrical 

 pipe, one inch in diameter, inclined one foot in ten, will convey 

 about eleven gallons of water per minute. The same pipe, 

 with an inclination of one foot in twenty, will convey eight 

 gallons per minute ; with an inclination of one in fifty, five 

 gallons per minute : with an inclination of one in one thousand, 

 one gallon per minute. A two inch pipe will convey about 5^ 

 times as much water as a one inch pipe ; a three inch pipe nearly 

 fifteen times as much." Angles or bends in the pipe will 

 materially reduce the capacity. A square conduit, made of 

 boards or planks well jointed, does as well as anything else to 

 conduct water, and if spring water, can be laid on the surface of 

 the ground, reducing the temperature slightly, to its advantage. 

 A perforated zinc or copper strainer with much more surface 

 than the size of the conduit is preferable for the intake, but 

 an ordinary packing box perforated with small holes and 

 connected with the conduit will do. Any spring should be 

 thoroughly cleaned out before the water is conducted to a 

 hatchery and cleaned before each hatching season. The intake 

 should be examined occasionly to guard against its becoming 

 clogged. 



While not essential, it is desirable to have the hatching 

 room well lighted to avoid the necessity of using artificial light 



