ii6 COMMON TROUT. 



Who was the first to institute the artificial breeding of Trout and other Saimonid(S, I know 

 not ; but it was successfully pursued by a German gentleman of the name of Jacobi some- 

 time about the year 1763, as may be seen on reference to a translation of that gentleman's paper, 

 which has been given in full by Yarrell, (vol. il., p. 87 — 96.) His plan was a very simple 

 one, and in its main features it is in use at the present time. Jacobi had some long wooden 

 boxes constructed with fine gratings at the top and ends ; these were partially filled with 

 gravel, and having procured the ripe ova from a female Trout, and impregnated them by mixing 

 them up with the milt of the male, he placed them in the gravel ; the box was then put in pure 

 running water, and nature performed the task of incubation. For many years nothing more 

 was heard of Jacobi's piscicultural art, and it was not till the years 1848 and 1851 that the art 

 was revived. In 1848 Gottlieb Boccius wrote "A Treatise on the Production and Management 

 of Fish in Fresh-water by Artificial Spawning, Breeding and Rearing; shewing also the 

 Cause of the Depletion of all Rivers and Streams," (Van Voorst). A short time after this 

 date there appeared a paper in the Joiinial dcs Tmvaiix de V Academic nationale, (Paris, 1851), 

 entitled Fkondation artificiclle dcs Poissoiis, by two French fishermen, M.M. Gehin and Remy. 

 The matter was shortly afterwards taken up by M. Coste, Member of the Institute, and 

 Professor in the College of France, whose valuable work, Voyoi^c d' Exploration sur Ic Littoral 

 de la France ct de /' Italic, (Paris, 1861), is in my own library and before me as I write. 

 This work was published by order of the Emperor, and treats of pisciculture, oyster culture, 

 and other kindred subjects. The result of the whole was that the government granted the 

 sum of several thousand francs, and the establishment at Huningue arose. I need do no 

 more than merely mention a few of the names of persons who have published treatises on 

 the artificial rearing of fish, both on the Continent, in America, and in this country, such 

 as Filippi, Fry, Haxo, Millet, Quatrefages, Sivard de Beaulieu, Marquis de Vibrage, Karl 

 Vogt, W. Wright, Francis Francis, and though last, certainly not least, the indefatigable 

 inspector of our English and Welsh Salmon Fisheries, Mr. Frank Buckland. As a practical 

 breeder of Trout, I know no one more successful than my father-in-law, Mr. Masefield, of 

 Ellerton Hall, Shropshire, who annually rears several thousands of fr\', and, with his charac- 

 teristic generosity, distributes to those requiring them. 



The development of the ova is greatly influenced by the temperature ; Mr. Bartlett, of 

 the Zoological Gardens, hatched Salmon ova in the short space of thirty days after impreg- 

 nation, the eggs usually taking from one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and forty days, 

 according to the temperature of the water. The proper temperature of the water should 

 range from 40"" to 45°; Trout eggs at such a temperature would take about sixty days to 

 develope into young fry ready to burst the membranes. Mr. Buckland says, "Lay it down 

 for an axiom that the higher the temperature for the ^g%, the weaker the fish produced from 

 that ^%g; everything above 50° is weakening." — {Fish Hatching, p. 102, London, 1863.) 



Trout spawn, as a rule, in November and December, but the spawning time varies, both 

 according to season and locality. Trout eggs havo been taken from the fish as late as 

 February ; and the lateness in spawning must be taken into account in estimating the age 

 of young fish at a certain time of the year. It appears that Trout do not always mature 

 their ova; that they may miss a year or so. Sterile examples are known to occur, and have 

 frequently been taken. In such cases the Trout are in season in January and February, being 

 excellent food. 



It is not easy to ascertain the age to which a Trout may attain. Daniel, in the sup- 

 plement to his Rural S/^orts, mentions a case in which a Trout lived in a well at Dumbarton 

 Castle for twenty-eight years, having been a pound in weight when placed there, and never 

 having increased in size the whole time. As a rule. Trout in such confined places do not 

 grow; but the following narrative, also given by Daniel, shows that a moderate degree of 

 confinement will not limit the growth of a Trout. A certain gentleman had made a stew, in 



