SOME EXPERIMENTS IN THE BURIAL OF SALMON 



EGGS— SUGGESTING A NEW METHOD OF 



HATCHING SALMON AND TROUT 



By John Pease Babcock 



In writing of the propagation of salmon and trout some 

 authorities state that considerable loss is occasioned in 

 natural propagation by many of the eggs becoming imbedded 

 in sand and gravel ; that all the eggs so imbedded are lost. 



Observation and experiment in the propagation of Pacific 

 salmon and trout for a considerable period lead me to ad- 

 vance the theory that in natural propagation only those eggs 

 which become imbedded beneath several inches of sand and 

 gravel produce alevins which live to attain the fry stage ; 

 and that those eggs which are not covered by several inches 

 of sand and gravel are either consumed by active aquatic 

 enemies or destroyed by the vegetable moulds commonly 

 termed "fungus." 



My experiments have demonstrated that the burial of 

 freshly fertilized eggs of the nerka and other Pacific salmon 

 does not smother them ; that eggs so treated not only live 

 but hatch, and that if they are covered to a sufficient depth 

 the alevins produced survive and possess the instinct and 

 power to work their way gradually to the surface; that if 

 buried beneath five or six inches of sand and gravel such 

 eggs will hatch, and the young will work their way up 

 through the sand and gravel to the surface, and that by 

 the time they emerge have absorbed their sacs and are 

 then exempt from the attacks of vegetable moulds. 



Eggs buried under one or two inches of sand and gravel 

 produce alevins that work their way up to the surface 

 before the sac is absorbed, and upon reaching the surface 

 are subject to attack by vegetable moulds, and a very large 

 percentage are thus destroyed, as well as by the more 

 developed forms of aquatic life. 



