570 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIESc 



in remote and solitary localities without carrying along previously- 

 prepared apparatus. PI. XVIIl, fig. 5, is a frame made of saplings 

 one to two inches in diameter, such as can be found anywhere in the woods. 

 The several parts are either tied with willow-twigs or roughly nailed to- 

 gether. This frame is made four to five feet long, three feet wide, and one 

 high. It is densely interwoven with juniper or fir brush, while the upper 

 side is left open, and has the appearance of a box or basket of brush. Com- 

 mon or Virginian juniper is most suitable for the purpose, for the inside 

 must not in any way be trimmed — the rougher the better; even some 

 juniper-branches may be laid inside, their rough prickles, indeed, appear- 

 ing to promote propagation. I have often observed that fishes in smooth 

 willow-baskets, with leaves in, remain lazj^ and inactive, while others in 

 prickly juni[)er-boxes were progressing industriously in their work. 

 This basket (PI. XVIII, fig. G) is to be set in a warm and sheltered place 

 with two female and one male fish in it. A piece of netting is tied over 

 the top to prevent their escape. The process of breeding is left entirely 

 to nature. In these plaited boxes, Cyprinidoi without adhering eggs may 

 also be hatched, when the bottom is dense enough to prevent the eg'gs 

 from falling through. (To the hatching of Gyprinidcc with non adherent, 

 eggs, I have referred in a former letter.) 



I have thus explained two methods, in accordance with your wish. 

 You will do well to practice both. Mine I have frequently tried and 

 never found wanting. You must, liowever, noc get discouraged in case 

 of failure. Some little mistake or oversight may mar the success. I 

 may as well tell you that at first I failed five or six times, and now ray 

 results are always favorable. 



The hatching-box must be i)laced in the water so that the top pro- 

 jects about one-fourth inch above it. Dead eggs have to be removed 

 promptly. After the young fish have absorbed the yolk-bag, they may 

 be left for some days in the hatching-box ; but afterward must be fed 

 with mashed brains of cattle, &c., and removed to ponds, &c. 



The hatching-apparatus, when in the water, must not touch the bot- 

 tom, but ought to remain several inches from it. The cover ought 

 always to be one-fourth to one inch above the water. In shallow water, 

 hatfhing-boxes and frames have to be reduced in height to correspond 

 with the depth. 



For operations on a smaller scale, boxes twenty to twenty-five inches 

 long and four inches high are well adapted for hatching Gyprinidce with 

 non-adhering eggs. These should have a solid bottom board, covered 

 with fine, washed sand, and supported by strong floats. They, of course, 

 need no perpendicular frames, as the eggs are deposited upon the sand, 

 neither is any shading required, however burning the sun may be. 



