250 AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



proportion of eggs impregnated being perhaps 75 or 80 percent. Then, 

 also, the eggs taken from the Ainsworth screens are mixed with sediment 

 and fibers of woody matter, saturated with water, which are a source of 

 great annoyance ; and beside this, in order to get all the eggs from a 

 pond full of trout on the natural plan, the area of screens should be 

 three or four times as great as the usual area of race employed for strip- 

 ping purposes. Now, the chief claim of those who urge the use of 

 naturally-impreguated eggs is, that they grow into better, stronger, 

 more hardy, and more healthy fish than the other. If this was the case 

 the difference of percentage in impregnation, &c., &c., would not be 

 worthy of consideration. But after some years of experiment it looks 

 to us as if the advantage, if any, was rather on the side of the artifi- 

 cially-taken eggs. Why this should be so is a mystery, as, theoretically, 

 naturally-impregTiated eggs should be perfect. We recommend methods 

 of natural impregnation only to beginners in the art, or for use in places 

 where it is not convenient to take the fish at proper seasons. For in- 

 stance, the owner of a trout-stream may wish to collect trout-eggs during 

 the season, but may not have leisure to attend to it more than once a 

 week, or may not be able to obtain the necessary assistance. In such a 

 case one of the Ainsworth races fixed at or near the head of the stream 

 would collect the eggs, and keep them in good order for a week or more 

 at a time. 



Transportation of eggs. — Great improvements have been made in the 

 transportation of eggs. The method is the same which Mr. Green used 

 long ago. Eggs to be packed in tin boxes about three inches by two 

 and one-half, holding one thousand each, for convenience in counting, 

 unpacking, and arranging. Moss to be used for packing material as 

 being on the whole the most reliable. Only the softest moss is used, 

 cut into half-inch fibers, and well washed before i^acking. Saw-dust to 

 be used (for packing the tin boxes) in larger or smaller quantities ac- 

 cording to the distance to which the eggs are to be sent, and the tem- 

 perature to which thej' are to be exposed. Greater care is now used in 

 packing the eggs in the moss, and for long journeys the tins are sur- 

 rounded by, a double wall of saw-dust or straw. Thus packed, the eggs 

 stand everything but great extremes of temperature or handling. But 

 the greatest improvement made in transportation is in the fact of not 

 sending the eggs until they are within three or four weeks of hatching. 

 The older the egg the more rough usage it will bear with impunity. 

 Eggs sent within four weeks of hatching generally arrive in good order, 

 unless the temperature has been unexpectedly high or low, or they have 

 been subjected to violent blows by careless handling. 



Hatching eggs. — In regard to the apparatus in which eggs should be 

 put to hatch, opinions are still at variance. Some fish-breeders prefer 

 the Coste trays ; some use the stone-charcoal trough, and some hatch 

 on slate beds ; while we still give the preference to the old gravel troughs 

 as being on the whole the handiest, least expensive, and best. Perhaps 

 it may be of service to give the test we used in experimenting with the 

 different sorts of hatching arrangements. It is well known that an egg 

 not impregnated will not die at once if placed with the others, but will 

 last a longer or shorter time; sometimes remaining of a natural color 

 until after the impregnated eggs of the same age have turned into fish. 

 Now the test of the value of any hatching arrangement is the length of 

 time in which unimpregnated eggs will remain of a natural color. If 

 they will remain apparently good until after the impregnated eggs with 

 them of the same age are hatched out, then the arrangement is about 

 as near perfect as it can be. It has been insisted that the earliest hatched 



