American Fisheries Society. 19 



the micropylc is open to receive it ; and considering the small 

 amonnt of milt possessed by the male and the manner in which 

 it is thrown off into a large body of water. 



Another circumstance that confirms me in my belief as to the 

 small number of eggs fertilized by the natural process is the 

 order in which ihc male and female hsh come on to their spawn- 

 ing beds. In the (ireat Lakes, the hrst run of hsh in spawning 

 time is composed almost exclusivel\- of male hsh. 'rhe\- are 

 followed in a few days by the females; ajid in taking spawn from 

 this second run of fish, we hud that seven-tentlrs of the fish taken 

 are females; and it is a difficult matter to get enough male fish 

 to fertilize tlie eggs taken. It frequently occurs that pails full uf 

 eggs are thrown overboard because enough male fish cannot be 

 procured to impregnate them. A few days after the run of fe- 

 males has passed off, a run of small male fish comes on. 1 have 

 heard many people sa}- that this run of male fish will fecundate 

 the eggs of the earlier run of females. lUit th(jse of us who have 

 liad experience in practical work know that the eggs cannot be 

 fertilized after they have left the fish two hours. However, 

 assuming that a part of the eggs become fertilized, they must of 

 necessity be lodged among those which are not fertilized and con- 

 se(|uently, the fungus growth, with which all fish culturists are 

 familiar, spreads over the entire mass, and the percentage that 

 hatches must be very small. The only way that suggests itself to 

 me that will ever enable us to forui an accurate idea or obtain 

 positive knowledge of the number of whitefish eggs impregnated 

 n.aturally is to have a diver go down on the reefs anrl bars just 

 after the fish get done spawning, and gather up a few gallons of 

 eggs, which may be placed in a hatcher\ and the results noted. 



Last fall I spent three half-days on a trout stream and exam- 

 ined numerous spawning beds at the lime the trout were s]-)awn- 

 ing in the stream. 1 had such ap])aratus as I thought necessary 

 to obtain any' eggs that might be on the beds, but we did not 

 find a single egg in any nest that we examined. I presume the 

 eggs had been devoured by the trout as fast as deposited. My 

 purpose was to find the i)ercentage of trout eggs impregnated by 

 the natural process. I shall follow \^]) this work again this fall 

 and hope for better results. 



There are very few good trout streams in which less than 

 one thousand trout s])awn naturally each \ear. These trout 

 should average at least two hundred eggs each, making two hun- 

 dred thousand eggs dei>osited in the stream each \(.ar. If l\v(^ 

 thousand trout are hatched and come to maturity this shoidd 



