Proceedings Forty-eighth Annual Meeting 101 



bottom with strips of wood 1 inch by Y2 inch. I also made a 

 frame that would just fit on over the 2-inch sides and that could 

 be easily removed. This frame, made of strips 5 inches by x /i inch, 

 is to be used for larger fish when there is danger of their going 

 over the low sides of the tray, but in most cases it is not necessary 

 to use this. 



I have found this tray one of the most convenient articles I 

 have about the hatchery and it comes into almost daily use. 

 For sorting fmgerlings and yearlings, I place it on a box, open 

 side up, about the size of the tray, that will bring the tray a foot 

 or more from the ground and placed directly back of the pool 

 into which the larger portion of the sorted fish are to be put. 

 The fish are seined up and placed in a tub of water near the tray. 

 One man, with a dip net, will take from the tub and put into the 

 tray as many at a time as can be handled conveniently. A man 

 or two by the tray can pick out the largest of the lot (and the 

 smallest also if three sortings are to be made) , and these are put 

 into tubs and later into pools. Those remaining in the tray are 

 tipped into the pool in front of the tray. 



In most cases this saves taking in the hands a large propor- 

 tion of the fish. A tub of yearlings, holding a thousand to fifteen 

 hundred fish, can be sorted in fifteen minutes. In sorting for the 

 market, those large enough to ship can be picked out by hand 

 and the balance tipped back into the pool. 



I make use of this same tray in spawning time, placing several 

 trout at a time in it and taking the fish to be stripped from the 

 tray. In this way they get rid of the water that would run into 

 the spawning pan if the fish were taken in the hands from water, 

 thus increasing the chances of good fertilization. 



I have had several fish culturists from United States, state and 

 commercial hatcheries working with me, but none of them had 

 ever seen the tray used for sorting fish until they saw the one at 

 my place. Although it is not in general use, I think, from its 

 simplicity, someone must have made a device much like the one 

 I have. It certainly is a great labor saver. 



In the discussion which followed, Mr. J. P. Snyder, of Cape 

 Vincent, N. Y., described a sorting tray which he had made, 

 using galvanized wire screen on the sides of the tray. With the 

 use of screen of various sizes any desired assortment could be 

 made in a short time. 



