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o^ood, can never take the place of verbal instruction ; 

 partly because it never conveys exactly the same idea to 

 all, partly because seeing a thing is better than hearing 

 about it, and most of all, because a written description is 

 a general one, and hardly ever tells of the minutiae and va- 

 riations which constantly occur in practice. As an exam- 

 ple of this, it has been urged, all through this book, that 

 in moving the eggs the beginner should not touch them 

 with the feather, but should move the water over them, 

 with the feather, so that the eggs should follow the current 

 thus created ; also that he should be very careful, in re- 

 moving the dead eggs, not to touch the others with the 

 nippers. But, in our establishment, we constantly move 

 the eggs with the feather, and push to one side the sound 

 eggs with the nippers, in order to get at the dead ones. 

 The reason simply is, that long practice has given the 

 "knack of doing it, without injury to the eggs, and a tyro 

 could not do it. 



Taking Spawn by Atnsworth's Screens. — Mr. Stephen 

 H. Ainsworth, the ]^ioneer of fish-farming in tliis country, 

 last year invented an apparatus, which is, we believe, des- 

 tined to work a revolution in the whole science of fish- 

 breeding. It has not yet been tried sufficiently to pass a 

 final judgment upon its merits. But so far as it has been 

 tried, it has answered a good purpose, and generally met 

 with success. From a perusal of the preceding method of 

 taking the spawn by hand, it will be seen that many diffi- 

 culties attend the operation. In the first place, it requires 

 long practice and a natural gilt besides, in order to succeed in 

 it well. Then, many of the fish are inevitably lost through 

 being handled ; and the operation is a very inconvenient one. 

 Kequiring, as it does, to be performed in the depth of win- 

 ter, when the ground is covered with snow, and water on 

 one's hands and clothes soon becomes ice, it is a cold and 



