86 ALASKA FISHERIES AND FUR INDUSTRIES, 1911. 



the surface of the brine and the basket is drawn toward the end of 

 the tank and out from under the floating dead eggs. At the same 

 time the fan is used with the other hand to aid in moving any of these 

 floating eggs to one side. The fan is then dropped and the lower 

 end of the basket is grasped and the whole is quickly raised out of 

 the solution. The basket is set at an angle on the tank for a moment 

 to drain and is then carried to the hatching trough. The attendant 

 lifts out another basket to drain along with the four or five others 

 originally removed and returns to the tank of brine with the basket 

 that has been draining the longest. 



'/\Tiile this is being done the other operator skims the dead eggs 

 off the surface of the brine and places the frame described above in 

 the tank for a moment to stop all motion of the solution. After five 

 or six baskets have been treated, any eggs that have settled to the 

 bottom of the tank are removed, as they absorb and weaken the 

 brine. It is necessary, as earlier mentioned, to add a little fresh 

 brine after handling each basket. The eggs should be as clean as 

 possible, as the solution will not be effective when it contains much 

 sediment. A 1-inch hole with plug in one corner of the tank is 

 convenient for drawing off any deposit of this character. Should 

 failure occur in treating a basket of eggs, as, for example, if by 

 sudden jar they are all caused to sink, or if the brine is too weak or 

 too strong, the basket must be put back in the hatching trough, as 

 it will not respond to treatment again the same day. 



At Yes Bay last winter a large portion of the 72,000,000 eggs were 

 thoroughly cleaned up at one handling. Two men ran as many as 

 10,000,000 eggs through the salt bath in a single da*y. It is cus- 

 tomary on the day after treating the eggs to have them gone over, 

 so that if any dead eggs remain they may be picked out by hand. 

 This, however, requires very little time, as but few dead eggs are 

 found. No alarm need be felt if the eggs seem to shrink as a result 

 of the immersion, for they will soon resume their normal size upon 

 being replaced in fresh water. 



The use of the salt solution has been extended lately to the handling 

 of lake-trout eggs in Michigan and Minnesota, and there appears to 

 be no reason why it is not equally well adapted to the eggs of other 

 salmonoids. Certainly its many advantages commend further 

 experimentation in this direction. 



PLANTING. 



Although good judgment and foresight are usually displayed by 

 the fish culturist in the manner of taking and handling fish eggs, there 

 is often a decided tendency to neglect in the planting process. The 

 desire to make a good showing as regards numbers in the hatchery 

 output is commendable, but paramount to this is always the real 



