TROUGHS. 21 



eggs, but a few hours exposure certainly will. Perhaps it 

 would be well to have the windows, if possible, made on 

 the north side of the hatching house, into which the sun 

 will not shine in the winter season. Keep the hatching 

 house clean. In fact, cleanliness is one of the cardinal vir- 

 tues to the Trout raiser. He should have a clean house, 

 should work with clean hands, and have all his pans, 

 spoons and utensils of every sort free from grease and dirt. 



Troughs. — These should be made of seasoned timber, 

 one and a half inches thick. They should be six inches 

 deep and about fifteen inches wide, inside measurement. 

 It would be better, perliaps, if the troughs were eight or 

 nine inches deep, because then the water could be raised 

 higher over the young Trout after they are hatched out. 

 The difficulty in making them so deep is that when the 

 sides of the trough are made so wide they are apt to warp 

 or stretch apart at the top, and must be stayed in some 

 way ; for instance, by strips nailed across. But the cleaner 

 the trough is of all strips, elbows or grooves the better. 

 The troughs are divided into squares or nests by cross 

 strips set on the bottom at intervals of eighteen inches. 

 The reason for this division into nests and for these cross 

 strips will be seen further on. Tliese strips may be made 

 of half-inch stuff and cut two inches in width. There is 

 no necessity for nailing them to the bottom ; fit them in 

 accurately and set them edgeways at intervals of eighteen 

 inches. As they do not need to be removed often, it is 

 better to make them fit tightly. Other strips of the same 

 stuff must be provided, to fit upon these and made wide 

 enough to raise the water within a half inch of the top of 

 the trough. As these need to be often moved, they must 

 be made loose enough to take out, and yet fit accurately 

 enough to raise the water over them when they are put in. 

 A groove is sometimes made in which to run the strips, or 



