Canfield. — Hatching the Buffalo-fish 87 



for about five minutes, to insure impregnation. Two table- 

 spoonfuls of ordinary corn starch are now added and thoroughly 

 stirred in for about ten minutes to keep the eggs separated. After 

 this the eggs are washed by gently pouring water into and then 

 out of the pan, repeating the process until the eggs are quite 

 clean, gently stirring them meanwhile to keep the eggs separated. 

 During washing, the eggs become water hardened. 



If a hatching battery is near at hand, the eggs may now be 

 transported to it in a pail or other receptacle. If shipment is 

 necessary the eggs are poured on canton flannel trays and the 

 trays stacked and placed in the ordinary field shipping box, with 

 the upper tray serving as an ice hopper and the lower one as a 

 cushion for the balance of the stack. On arrival at the station 

 the eggs are tempered carefully and the trays are then moistened 

 by floating them in tanks. As the eggs have become cemented 

 together and to the trays, in transit, they must be gently scraped 

 off in enmassed strips, by means of a dull hand scraper and placed 

 in a tub of fresh water. They are then washed and brushed through 

 a one-eighth inch mesh bobbinet-bottomed tray into a tub of 

 clean water. In this process the tray is held so that the eggs are 

 slightly immersed in the water. By sifting and by raising and 

 lowering the tray and gently brushing the eggs through the" meshes 

 with the fingers, or with an ordinary paint brush, the process is 

 made more easy for the operator and safe to the eggs. 



After this process the eggs are again washed by changes of 

 water as previously described, then poured into the Downing jars, 

 placed on the battery shelves and running water admitted. The 

 following day it is necessary to again pass the eggs through the 

 bobbinet tray to separate them, but under ordinary conditions no 

 further trouble of this nature occurs. In the event of the eggs 

 becoming enmassed by fungus, they should be washed and sep- 

 arated and the good eggs given a dip or quick bath in a weak 

 salt solution, sufficiently strong to remove the fungus. 



It should be emphasized that roily water is not troublesome 

 and as the ordinary river water is of the proper temperature, it is 

 preferable to clear water of lower temperature obtained from 

 springs or otherwise. Temperatures fluctuating between 52 and 

 62 degrees Fahr. have given no trouble but a range of 56 to 62 



