114 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



In sliipping tliera to their destination, 10-gallon round-shonldered cauvS 

 are filled to within a foot of the top with the water used in hatching. 

 One trayful, or 2,000 fry, is x)ut in each can, and as soon as it is filled, 

 enough ice is added to bring the temperatnre down to 38° or 40° P. If 

 the fry are to be planted in the Great Lakes, the cans are transferred 

 from the car, upon its arrival at its destination, to a fishing-tug and 

 conveyed to the reefs or natural spawning-grounds of the lake trout; 

 here the cans are lowered into the water and the fry allowed to escape 

 and in a few moments they disappear from the surface and sink to the 

 bottom. 



PACKING EYED EGGS FOE SHIPMENT. 



When the eye-spots are i^lainly visible, the eggs can be packed and 

 successfully shipped to any part of the world, if kept at a uniform 

 temperature. The trays used for this purpose are made like those used 

 in shii)ping green eggs from the field station to the hatchery. For 

 100,000 eggs 16 trays, 18 inches by 18 inches, are required; for 50,000, 

 8 trays, 16 by 16; and for 5,000 eggs, 5 trays, 8 by 8. After they are 

 packed, the trays are placed one upon the other and crated together by 

 nailing a cleat on each side from the foundation to the top board. The 

 packing-case is made large enough to admit of an air-space of 1 inches 

 around the top, bottom, and four sides of the crate, when it is placed 

 in position. Eope handles are inserted at the sides. 



The temperature of the packing-room should not be higher than 40° 

 nor lower than 26°. A temperature of from 28° to 30° is preferable. 

 The canton- flannel trays are first soaked in water, drained, and then 

 placed upon a table to receive the eggs. Wooden frames of finch 

 square strips, made so as to fit inside the frames of the packing-trays, 

 are then inserted. A box of eggs, previously picked and cleaned, is 

 taken out, drained, and carried to the packing-room. The eggs are 

 carefully brushed from the wire trays upon the flannel trays with a 

 feather and sijread evenly over the surface. To divide the eggs among 

 the flannel trays is not diflicult, as there are 40,000 in the hatching- 

 box, or 4,000 to the tray. The inner wooden frame is now removed, 

 leaving a f-inch margin on all sides between the eggs and the tray 

 frame, and a piece of damp mosquito netting is laid over the eggs, 

 extending 1^ inches beyond the sides of the frame. This netting is 

 pressed down at the inside corners of the tray and all along next to 

 the frame, in order to hold the eggs in position and avoid their coming 

 in contact with the wooden frames. Over this netting is scattered 

 sphagnum moss, i to f of an inch deep. This moss is gathered in the 

 fall, and is prepared by being soaked in water and wrung out with a 

 clothes- wringer. It must be free from all sticks and decayed matter 

 and thoroughly wrung out, picked apart, and made flulfy, for if used 

 upon the eggs in a compact mass, the supply of oxygen would not be 

 sufficient for their maintenance while en route. It should be moist, but 

 not so wet as to drip on the eggs. 



