FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



tried, altliongh he professes to arrive at the 

 same results in another manner) ; and acting 

 on the plan recommended by them, I liave 

 known both trout and salmon bred by thousands 

 for the last 10 years; and as now is the time 

 for the experiments to be made, I hope that 

 those who intend to try the plan will lose no 

 time in looking after their supply of breeding 

 fish. 



To begin with trout : catch as many as you 

 can conveniently obtain upon the spawing beds* 

 and examine them carefully one by one, to see 

 tliat the spawn and milt are in a fit state for 

 exclusion, and also to enable you to sei^arate 

 the males from the females. If they are in a 

 fit state to be operated upon, which may be 

 known by the fiicility with which the milt and 

 the roe run from them, on a slight pressure, 

 squeeze the milt of the males into a little water. 

 When you have obtained all the milt you can 

 get, add so much water that the mixture re- 

 mains slightly opalescent; say about equal in 

 color to a table-spoonful of milk mixed in a 

 quart of water. Pour this into a deep dish or 

 bowl, large enough to hold the largest of your 

 female trouts. 'J'akc one of these, put it into 

 the water so prepared, and gently squeeze the 

 roe from it, whilst overhead in the water. f Do 

 this as quickly as possible and return the fish 

 into fresh watcn'. and then pour off the water 

 containing the impregnated roe. through a 

 strainer, carefully preserving it for the remain- 

 ing fish, and immediately return the roe into 

 fresh spring or brook water. Repeat the ojiera- 

 tion for every female trout, and you will then 

 have a quantity of impregnated roe, which, if 

 properly managed, will hatch with great cer- 

 tainty. Have ready as many boxes as you are 

 able to stock with si)awn, made 3 feet long, 2 

 feet broad, and 6 inches deep; fill them two 

 inches deep with river sand,se) well washed that 

 there is not a particle of mud left in it, and 

 upon that put two inches of gravel, also ex- 

 ceedingly well washed, and varying in size from 

 a hazel nut to a i)igeon"s or pullet's egg. These 

 boxes must be so placed tliat the water from a 

 spring will run into the first, and from the sur- 

 face of that into the second, &c.; and below 

 the whole nest of boxes, there ought to be a 

 small reservoir made, say three yards by two 

 ditto, and 18 inches deep, and well gravelled 

 at the bottom ; all these things liaving been pre- 

 viously arranged, and the water flowing nicely 

 over the gravel, sprinkle the imjircgnated roe 

 equally over the surface of the gravel, say a 



* I have fiequeiilly foniul, wlieii cnlcliiiig: Iroiit for Iliio 

 pnr|in.?e. llial llie mill niid roe were not rcndy foreinisision. 

 AVIieii Ihis was llie case, I eiiclos-ed llie fisli iii a wii e cage, 

 which 1 immersetl in water, exairiiiiiiis tlieni every week, 

 until I fonnd ihey were ready for the px|)eriment. 



t I fmcy that if the ovacoine in contact with the air on 

 emis-ion. Iliat lliey are not so readily impregnaied as if 

 they are kept covered with the water until the impregn.a- 

 tion has taken phiee, and therefore I wii^h to lay some 

 the (lesirahieness of tints keepinsf the air exc'ud- 

 ; mill remains in an active stale long afier emis- 

 T have great reason to suppose thal'lhis is by no 

 cans the case with the roe. 



quarter of a pint to each box, and it will roll 

 down the interstices of the gravel, and find a 

 bed in which it will remain snugly until the 

 spring, then, about March, if all has been pro- 

 perly managed, you will find, on a careful ex- 

 amination, that the young trouts are coming 

 to life by hundreds. 



I am very particular in recommending a 

 spring, rather than a brook, for several reasons; 

 in the first place, brooks are liable to be flooded, 

 and are sometimes so overcharged with sand, 

 mud, &c., that the gravel in the spawning boxes 

 is completely choked with it, and the spawn 

 is lost, as I know to my great and frequent 

 disappointment ; at other times all is washed 

 away together. In the second place, (he gravel 

 of brooks swarms with water-lice, and tlie lar- 

 va? of aquatic flies, as well as bullheads and 

 loaches, all of which prey upon the spawn of 

 both the trout and the salmon ; and in the third 

 place, if you place your .spawning-boxes in a 

 brook, it is difficult to prevent the escape of the 

 fry when hatched, and you are left in doubt as 

 to the success of your experiment ; with a spring 

 all these inconveniences are obviated, but if 

 your water-course should contain water-lice or 

 aquatic larvae, it is a very easy matter to destroy 

 them before jjutting in your boxes, with a little 

 quicklime. It is also desirable to cover your 

 spawning boxes with a wire grating, and also to 

 protect them in severe weather from the chance 

 of being frozen. IVheii they begin to hatch, open 

 a communication between the boxes and the little 

 reservoir below, and if this communicates with 

 a water course, in which aquatic p'.ants are grow- 

 ing, so much the better; the fry as soon as they 

 are strong enough, will make their way into this 

 ditch, and will find an abundance of feed among 

 the water plants; from thence they ought to 

 be able to make their way into the brook, river 

 or lake, wliich. it is intended to store with them ; 

 but all ducks, wild and tame, should be driven 

 from this ditch, or th.erc will be few trouts al- 

 lowed to find their final place of destination. 



The above rules, with some modifications, ai'c 

 api)lieable to the breeding of salmon as well as 

 trout, the only ditferencc being in the mode of 

 placing the female fish. The salmon is too large 

 a fish to put into the A-essel in which the diluted 

 milt is ])]aced ; but I think it desiiable that slie 

 should be held by an assistant in such a man- 

 ner that the tail and loM-er part of the body, 

 up to the vent, are immersed in the Avater con- 

 taining the milt; it is also very necessary to 

 hold her firmly, otherwise a large fish, in the 

 struggles it makes to get free, is apt to upset 

 tlic vessel containing the milt, and then the ex- 

 periment is at an end; at least fora time; being 

 held fiiinly by tlie assistant as above, the belly 

 of the fish must be gently pressed by the hands, 

 to]n'omote tlie emission of the spawn, which 

 on emission mu.st be gently stirred in the water, 

 to bring every grain of it into contact with the 

 milt; but do not allow it to remain Ion 

 that liquor than a mimite, as I have fou 

 if the diluted milt is too strong, or if the 



