f Fish Culturists' Association. 31 



would still be enough for supplying the waters in abundance, and also a 

 sufficienc}' to relieve the wants of a considerable portion of mankind, 

 were it not for the ruthless and barbarous manner in which they are 

 killed by man, irrespective of the seasons in which they are foul and 

 unclean for food, and of the time also in which the}' are in the act of lay- 

 ing their eggs for producing their young. 



Having now shown the manner in which the ova are laid by the parent 

 fish in the natural way, and described the numerous sources from which 

 great destruction results to the egg by that system, it will be necessary 

 to fully explain the method adopted by the artificial propagation of fish. 



For this purpose we will commence at the time at which the parent fish 

 shall have reached the spawning grounds in the river or other water, and 

 when the ova and milt have become mature, the eggs are then taken 

 from the female by the operator in as gentle and careful a manner as 

 possible. There are three methods practiced in securing the adult fish, 

 male and female, for this purpose. One is to catch them b}' means of 

 nets whilst they are upon the shallows, and if, found ripe at the time, to 

 then and there carefully extract the ova and milt from them. This will 

 be found a difficult procedure, both in the netting of the fish, and also in 

 the uncertainty of afterwards finding them perfectly' ripe for spawning, 

 and should not be adopted unless it be impossible to procure them by 

 other means. Another plan is to catch such numbers of the adult fish as 

 may be required at the time of their migration up rivers during the 

 summer months, by means of small meshed nets, and carefully put them 

 into ponds or enclosures, and there secureh' kept until they become 

 mature for laying their eggs. The other method, Avhich from the 

 beginning has been used at the Newcastle establishments in Ontario, is 

 by erecting a reception house alongside of the strea>u (through which a 

 sufficient bod}' of water is made to pass), into which the parent fish, on 

 their journey up stream, are enticed to enter through peculiarly formed 

 traps, from whence the}' cannot return or escape. 



This building is divided into several compartments, and the different 

 sexes are placed in different pens, so that they can be more readily 

 noticed and selected for manipulating purposes. "When they are found 

 to be ripe, a female is taken out of the water and held over a tin pan or 

 other vessel, and the eggs are extracted from the vent by a gentle pressure 

 of the hand lengthwise along the abdomen. A male is then taken, and 

 the same operation is performed, and the milt or semen which is taken 

 from him is mixed with the eggs in the pan by gently stirring together 

 with the hand, or by a tremulous shake of the vessel. By this means 

 every egg will have come into contact with the fecundating fluid of the 

 male, and unless from some natural defect, either in the egg or the milt, 



