52 



REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



under the eg,g:s, and on several occasions eggs of landlocked salmon 

 have been carried across the Atlantic in prime condition, without 

 repacking- or special attention. 



The })ackiug-boxes are made of thin pine or hr, 12 inches wide and 15 

 inches long — j|-inch thick boards being used lor the end pieces and 

 ^-iuch for the other i^arts — and hold in a single layer, Avithout crowding, 

 2,500 eggs. The deepest are '^h inches deep and take four layers, or 

 10,000 eggs, in a box. To make up a shipment of 40,000 eggs, four boxes 

 are piled up and secured together by tacking strips of wood against 

 the ends, with a cover on the upper box, and this package placed iu 

 the case. For a shipment of 80,000, two of the 40,000 packages are ])ut 

 side by side in a larger case, and the proportions selected for the inner 

 boxes are sucli that the case required is of convenient form. 





(4^ oQ<^aCH*6oo>.'o»c^)^^9cw$>Qicrooooo« 009^006003099^ V 



.•IJ. X,. 







Li)iigitiuliual soctioii of a case of Atlantic Saluiou egys. 



Different mosses can be used for packing, but none are so good as 

 the sphagnons moss that can be found iu swamps and bogs in most 

 regions of high latitude or considerable elevation. Fresh moss is 

 l)referable for a bed for the eggs, though dead, dry moss may be moist- 

 ened and used with good results. 



The moss is gathered in August or September, dried on the ground, 

 and stored iu sacks or in bulk until wanted. It retains its freshness 

 through the following winter, not heating like most organic materials. 

 It is exceedingly light, and the best nonconductor known, with the 

 possible exception of asbestos. It is used dry in the outer i)acking 

 inainly to save weight, but when protection against freezing is all that 

 is sought, wet moss is better, as frost i)enetrates wet moss more slowly 

 than dry. When moss can not be had, there are n)any substitutes 

 which may be used for the protective envelope, such as dry forest 

 leaves, chaff from a haymow, chopped hay, or even crumpled paper; 

 but the latter should not be allowed to become wet. 



