TJie Country Gentleman s Magazme 



319 



%\\t Ititturaltst. 



SALMON BREEDING AT INVERTROSSACHS. 



THE experiment which is being made 

 at Invertrossachs for the propagation 

 of salmon, says the Scotsman, is proving most 

 successful. Some time ago we mentioned 

 that Mr Stewart Macnaghten of Invertros- 

 sachs, having experimented with trout, was 

 dtsirous of extending the process to salmon, 

 and applied to the Forth Fishery Board 

 last October for permission to get a quantity 

 of salmon ova. Leave was granted, but it 

 was late in the season before attempts were 

 made to- obtain ova, the result being that 

 only about 3000 ova could be got. The 

 greater portion of this was deposited in six 

 breeding-boxes, sent down by Mr. Neville, 

 Kensington Gardens, London, and fitted up 

 within Invertrossachs House,, and the re- 

 mainder was placed in two boxes about 200 

 yards from the house, where two small ponds 

 had been formed. These ponds, which are 

 20 feet by 10 feet, are situated close to a 

 stream which runs into Loch Vennacher. 

 Water is supplied to them from this stream, 

 and after passing through the ponds it again 

 joins the stream. To prevent anything 

 entering the ponds which would be likely to 

 interfere with the young fish, the stream is 

 protected at its entrance and exit by net 

 work, so that the fish cannot escape. A 

 strong fence has also been erected round 

 the ponds. The process of hatching the 

 ova was commenced on the 96th day, and 

 the whole was completed by the looth day — 

 about the end of March. The young salmon 

 were then removed from the breeding-boxes 

 to the ponds, and there they are progressing 

 most favourably. In length, at the present 

 time they vary from iVz inch to 3 inches, 



those who take the food thrown in by the 

 keeper seeming to thrive best, though a num- 

 ber seem to prefer the stray flies which come 

 in their way. 



Mr Macnaghten has preserved a number 

 of interesting specimens at various stages. 

 In one small phial is a specimen of the ova 

 when spawned ; in another phial is a specimen 

 shewing the eyes of the fish as they appear 

 in about 59 days 3 in a third is the young 

 fish just as hatched in too days; in another 

 is seen the fish when seven weeks old. This 

 last-mentioned specimen is about one inch 

 in length, and has the bar marks most distinct. 

 It was taken just at the time when it had 

 become disencumbered of the umbilical bag. 

 Several curious specimens of salmon defor- 

 mities are also preserved. One has the tail 

 and one half of the body turned up over the 

 back ; another has the tail turned in along- 

 side the umbilical bag ; a third has the whole 

 body something in the form of a corkscrew, 

 turned over the back of the head ; a fourth 

 has the body turned to one side ; and the 

 fifth has the body quite distinct, but the tail 

 is- turned down underneath the umbilical bag. 



From the success which has attended this 

 attempt at salmon propagation, we under- 

 stand that next season Mr Macnaghten will 

 experiment on a larger scale, so that there is 

 every likelihood of the Forth district of 

 salmon fishings becoming much more valuable 

 than they already are. It is not improbable 

 that the experiment will embrace sea-trout 

 as well as salmon, and as the Fishery Board 

 will likely follow the example of the Tweed 

 Board in marking a number of the young 

 fish by means of wire inserted in the tail, the 



