114 Fish-Hatching at Howietoun. [Sess. 
FISH-HATCHING AT HOWTIETOUN. 
By Mr WM. WILLIAMSON, Srcretary. 
As recorded in the “Notes on the Excursions of 1900,” a 
visit was paid to the Howietoun Fish-Hatchery on June 9. 
On arriving at the hatching-ponds, the members were met by 
Mr John Thomson, the manager, who gave an account of the 
work which has to be done at the ponds and at the hatching- 
houses, which were afterwards visited. Mr Thomson has been 
associated with the place since the time when the first ex- 
periments were undertaken to hatch out trout eggs in 1874. 
These were begun by Sir J. R. Gibson Maitland, with some 
assistance from Mr Francis Day, C.LE., as a result of certain 
remarks made by the late Frank Buckland. A very interest- 
ing account of successes and failures of these early experi- 
ments is given by Sir J. Maitland in his large book on 
Howietoun. One great result is that the proportion of ova 
which do not develop into fish by artificial hatching is ex- 
ceedingly small: under the ordinary conditions of nature the 
reverse is the case. The general time of spawning is from 
October to January. This may be advanced or retarded by 
treatment of the fish early in the season. By means of a net 
which is shaped to the pond, all the fish can be collected at 
one point. The ripe females are then stripped of the ova, 
which are collected in large plates. Suitable males are then 
stripped of the milt, which is expressed over the ova, and 
these, when they have been thus fertilised, are prepared for the 
hatching-house. Prior to this the hatching-boxes have been 
charred by means of hot irons, and all distributing boxes and 
pipes thoroughly cleaned, as it appears essential that no work- 
men should be employed about the houses during the time of 
hatching. The eggs are conveyed to the hatching-houses and 
poured by measures over grilles in the hatching-boxes. These 
grilles are trays made of a large number of short lengths of 
glass tubes or rods, lying side by side and held in position 
by a light wooden frame. The eggs are then arranged in rows 
between the glass tubes by means of a feather, and from now 
onwards a daily record is kept of the eggs in each hatching- 
