CHAPTER VII. 



Taking Eggs. 



Season for spawning. — All fish of the Salmon kind 

 spawn in autumn or winter. Trout commence to spawn 

 abont October. The colder the climate is the earlier they 

 will spawn. In our stream (Caledonia Creek) the Trout com- 

 mence to spawn about the 12th of October ; the water 

 standing then at about forty-eight degrees. In our ponds 

 where the temperature, at that time, is a few degrees high- 

 er, they begin to spawn about the 1st of IN'ovember, 

 and tliey cease spawning about the 1st of March. The 

 length of the spawning season depends upon the equality 

 of the temperature of the water. In streams where the 

 temperature does not vary much, the length of the season 

 is three or four months, sometimes more, and in cold 

 mountain streams it only lasts two months. 



Signs of Spawning. — As the season of spawning a])- 

 proaches, the difference of sexes shows more clearly. It is 

 very hard in the summer to tell the difference between a 

 male and female Trout. By handling them much and 

 watching them closely the Trout-breeder comes to know 

 the male and female apart almost instinctively ; but he 

 would be puzzled to tell just how he knows it. The male 

 is generally sharper jawed than the female at any season 

 of the year, and lines drawn from his shoulders to his tail 

 would be straight without any bulge in the middle, while 

 the female has a rounder jaw, and even in summer is 

 slightly protuberant in the middle. These are general 



