464 MR F. DAT ON THE BREEDING OF SALMON FROM PARENTS 



seven-year-old parents having the lower pond, those from the younger or six-year-old 

 lish having the upper pond, while both lots were similarly treated. At the end 

 of November 1883, those in the lower pond were about one fourth larger than those in 

 the upper pond, and as they received the stream after it had passed through the upper 

 pond, this gave reason to suppose that the large eggs produced superior fish to those from 

 the smaller eggs. In 1884 a second experiment was tried in the same two ponds, which 

 were stocked with young Lochleven Trout, bred from parents of the same age, spawned 

 the same day, and hatched in the same room. By the end of the year no difference in 

 size or appearance was perceptible between the two lots. It would thus seem that the 

 larger eggs given from older parents produce fry which grow faster than do those from 

 the smaller eggs furnished by younger parent-. 



Mr. Francis Francis (Fish Culture, 18<!5, Appendix, p. 309), when alluding to the 

 Salmon fishery at Doohulla in Ireland, has stated, " A curious fact occurred also, which is 

 worth noting, showing that big smolts make big lish. Among the smolts marked were 

 thirteen which had far outstripped the rest in size; and among the grilse were some 

 which had also considerably outstripped the rest. Most of these smolts were marked. 

 Among the rest was one very line fellow, which Mr. Ilamsbottom had to hold in both 

 hands while he was marked. They were cutting off the adipose or soft fin, and the 

 operator, who held the scissors, remarked as they came to this fish, 'What a pity to 

 mutilate such a fine fellow ! We will only cut oil' a piece of his I'm.' And the fin was cut 

 in halves, leaving a small triangular piece. This very lish was caught, and as he was 

 the largest smolt, so it was the largest grilse and weighed 7. 1 , lbs." 



The immediate and possihly remote result of having eggs from young fish for stocking 

 purposes is one which requires the earnest consideration of the fish-culturist. Tor I 

 have already shown that by selection a more rapidly growing race may be reared, and I 

 now propose examining whether small eggs from young parents may not give bad results 

 as to the number hatched or the quality of the young. 



For several seasons it had been remarked that eggs from young mothers are subject to 

 a greater percentage of deaths than those taken from older fish. On November 13th, 

 1884, about 500 eggs having a diameter of 017 of an inch were taken from a rising two- 

 year-old Lochleven Trout and they were impregnated from another of the same race of 

 the usual size. Out of these eggs only about a dozen hatched on January 28th, and seven 

 lived to be turned into the rearing-pond. In this instance the immaturity was on the 

 mother's side. 



On November 29th, 1883, 4500 eggs of the Lochleven Trout (of the season of 1875) 

 were milted from the parr of a Salmon raised at Howietoun and which had been hatched 

 in March 1881, and consequently were a little over 2 J years of age. The mortality of 

 these ova was only about 2 per cent. ; but such by no means gave a true index of the experi- 

 ment, for when the young hatched January 15th, 1884, nearly all were seen to be suffer- 

 ing from what has been termed dropsy or blue swelling of the yelk-sac*. As the same 

 cross had been made December 24th, 1881, but with older parents, and that without 



* Prou. Zool. Soc. 1884, p. 370. 



