MANUAL OF FISH-CULTURE. 45 



fish are laid for measiiremeut. At the front is a narrow table, on which 

 the eggs are washed ; and at the rear the entire side of the room is 

 occupied by a series of shelves, on which the eggs are placed after 

 fecundation and washing. 



The spawn taker, clad in waterproof clothing and wearing woolen 

 mittens, sits on a stool or box, and on a box in front of him is a clean 

 tin pan holding about 10 quarts, which has been rinsed and emptied 

 but not wiped out. A female salmon is dipped up from one of the 

 floating pens and brougbt to the operator, who seizes her by the tail 

 with the right hand and holds her up, head downward. If unripe, the 

 fish is returned to the pens; if ripe, the spawn will be loose and soft 

 and will run down toward the head, leaving the region of the vent 

 loose and Habby, and the operator, retaining his hold of the tail AAith 

 his right hand, places the head of the fish under his left arm with the 

 back uppermost, the head highest, and the vent immediately over the 

 pan. At first the fish generally struggles violently and no spawn 

 will flow; but as soon as she yields the eggs flow in a continuous 

 stream, rattling sometimes with great force against the bottom of the 

 pan. Shortly the flow slackens and must be encouraged and forced by 

 l^ressing and stroking the abdomen with the left hand. It is better to 

 use the face of the palm or the edge of the hand rather than pinch 

 between the thumb and finger; the latter action, especially when work- 

 ing down near the vent, is apt to rupture some of the minor blood 

 vessels, with the result of internal bleeding, and it is better to leave 

 some of the eggs behind to be taken another day than to run the risk 

 of such ruptures. 



If the fish in hand is fully ripe, nine-tenths of the eggs are obtained 

 at the first trial. When the operation has apparently gone far enough 

 for the first day, the fish is laid in the weighing bag, and as soon as the 

 weight is recorded is stretched upon the measuring board, whence she 

 is returned to the water, after a stay of 10 or 15 minutes in the air, 

 which results in no permanent injury. Both the weight and length of 

 the fish and the weight of the eggs are recorded, together with any thing- 

 remarkable connected with fish or eggs. 



Large salmon endure transportation and confinement less success- 

 fully than smaller ones, and the record therefore shows large numbers 

 of salmon from 29 to 31 inches in length, weighing, including eggs, from 

 9 to 12 pounds, and yielding 2^ to 3 pounds of spawn (6,000 to 8,700 

 eggs), with now and then a fish 35 or 40 inches in length, yielding, in 

 some cases, as many as 16,000 to 20,000 eggs. 



As soon as the spawn of a single female is taken, a male is brought 

 to the spawn-taker and the milt expressed upon the eggs. The pan is 

 then swayed and shaken violently until the milt becomes well dis- 

 tributed and in contact with every egg. If the quantity of spawn 

 exceeds 3 pounds it is divided and fecundated in two pans instead of 

 one, as it is diflicult to secure a good result if the eggs lie in too great 



