FISH CULTURE. 929 



take them. A trout two years old will give from two hundred to five hundred eggs, a three- 

 year-old from five hundred to one thousand eggs, a four or five-year-old from one thousand 

 to two thousand eggs. This is only an approximation, as the number of spawn depends upon 

 the weight and health of the fish, and not on its age. In some cases the number of eggs is 

 much greater, but four thousand is the most we have ever seen taken from one trout. In 

 estimating the number of spawn from a given number of fish in a pond, it must be 

 remembered that some are barren, and some diseased, and some, perhaps, will not go up into 

 the race. So that the average yield of two or three-year-olds, females only counted, will not 

 be over five hundred, of four or five year-olds, not over one thousand each. 



The proportion of males to females in a pond should be about one-half. Not so many 

 are necessary to fecundate the eggs, and it would be an advantage in one way to have fewer, 

 since then there would not be so much fighting in choosing partners, and as all the females 

 do not spawn at once, one male would be enough to serve several females; but, on the other 

 hand, the males seem to run out of milt before the females get through laying their eggs, and 

 towards the close of the season it is often difficult to obtain males with milt enough to 

 fecundate the eggs; so that it seems better to have in the pond an equal number of males and 

 females, thereby giving more chance of saving some of the milt till the last of the season. 

 The males are very amorous, and will pair again and again. It very often happens that some 

 of them die from the exhausting effects of the season. The best way is to have an equal 

 number of males and females, everything considered. 



Taking Spawn by Hand. The trout will not spawn in the ponds where the bottom 

 consists of large stones or weeds; but if there is sand or gravel anywhere on the bottom of 

 the ponds they will spawn on it. Therefore be careful to have all the raceway, where the 

 waters enter, covered with gravel. In October this may be washed and cleaned from the 

 weeds which will have grown in it during the year. As soon as the fish are ready to spawn 

 they will ascend from the ponds into the raceway seeking a place to nest. Then they are 

 ready to be taken out and the spawn expressed. At the entrance of the raceway there should 

 be grooves to receive a frame on which is tacked a net of coarse bagging about eight or ten 

 feet long. One corner of this bag should be narrowed, left unsewn, and tied w&quot;ith a string, 

 like the mouth of a meal sack. The race should be covered over in spawning time, as the 

 fish will come under the cover better and are not so likely to be frightened by any one 

 passing. If there are fifteen hundred or two thousand fish in the pond the net may be used 

 every day in the height of the season, and when the fish become scarce, once in two or three 

 days. 



Indications of spawning having been observed, the covers are put on the races, and as soon 

 as there are fish in the raceway, the net is gathered up in the one hand and the frame held in 

 the other, in such a position as to be put in the grooves as quickly as possible so as to let 

 none of the fish escape from the race. Go quietly to the spot, and do not walk down the 

 raceway to get to it, but approach from one side and put the net in the groove as quickly as 

 you can. The water running down will swell the net oat to its full length. The covers may 

 then be removed, and with a stick you may frighten the fish down from the head of the 

 raceway into the net. As soon as they are all in, the frame may be lifted out of the water, 

 and the fish are then enclosed in the bag. A tub of water should be previously brought 

 near the spot, and the end of the net can be lifted into the tub and untied, when the fish will 

 all fall into the tub without any trouble. Coarse cloth is better for the purpose than netting, 

 as it can be more easily tacked to the frame, does not hurt the fish so much, and lasts longer; 

 besides, the water swells it out and holds it open for the fish to run in better than it would a 

 net, and the fish not seeing you through the cloth as they would through an open mesh, are 

 not scared, and do not try to run back up the race. 



It must be remembered in this and all subsequent handling of the fish, that if the outer 

 skin of a trout is broken or abraded by the hand or in contact with any hard substance, it 

 will, in nineteen cases out of twenty, cause the fish to die. A white fungus appears on it 

 first where the skin is broken; the fungus spreads over the fish until it is sometimes half 

 covered with it before it dies. We speak of the covering of trout as &quot; skin,&quot; because it feels 

 like it and looks like it, although in reality trout are covered with minute scales. They will 

 get over a deep and clear cut much more quickly than over a bruise where the cuticle or skin 

 only is broken. 



The fish being now in the tub, must be taken to the hatching house as quickly as possible. 

 There are probably in the tub some fifteen or twenty fish, and all the operations must be 

 conducted as quickly as possible, so that they will not die in the small quantity of water to 



