TAKING SPAWN BY HAND. 



The female must be pressed more slowly and oftener than 

 the male. If the eggs are not ripe, by passing the hand 

 lightly over the belly, you will feel them beneath, hard, 

 like shot. In that case put the fish back into the pond, 

 for the eggs to ripen. When the eggs are ripe, the belly 

 will be soft and flabby, and the eggs beneath the skin feel 

 loose and change their positions at the touch. So loose 

 are they, that by holding the fish in a horizontal position, 

 and then moving it up and down, the eggs will change 

 their position in the womb, and fall downwards or upwards, 

 as you hold the fish head downward or upward. The ope- 

 ration must be continued, — first a male and then a female, 

 until the fish are exhausted. The water in the pan may, 

 at intervals, be gently stirred with the tail of the fish you 

 are holding in your hand ; this is to change the position of 

 the eggs, so as to be sure that all the eggs come in contact 

 with the milt, and the tail of the fish is better than any- 

 thing else to stir with, besides being ready in your hand. 

 The pan sliould then be set in one of the hatching troughs 

 through which the water is running ; this will keep the 

 eggs up to the proper temperature, and prevent a sudden 

 change when they are transferred to the trough. The eggs 

 will now agglutinate or stick to the pan, and to each other, 

 for a little while. 



Now then, having first put the fish back into the ponds, 

 while you are waiting for the eggs to separate, we will 

 saj^ a few more words about handling the fish. A Trout, 

 it is well known, may be tickled under the belly, and rather 

 seems to like it, and will lie quiet in your hand while you 

 are doing it. By putting the hand gently in the water, 

 moving it cautiously around the fish, and gently lifting, he 

 may be raised high and dry, and lie quietly without a 

 struggle. But this mesmeric operation takes too long to 

 try in spawning, and had better be left out of the ques- 

 tion. There is a way, however, of grasping a Trout firmly, 

 but gently. So fast that he cannot squirm, and yet not 



