932 THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



The eggs will now be loose and lying on the bottom of the pan. Pour off the dirty 

 water until only sufficient is left to cover the eggs. If this is done very gently, the eggs, 

 although very light, will remain at the bottom, as they are somewhat heavier than water; 

 then sink the pan into the water, at the same time tipping it as described in the chapter on 

 &quot; Eggs,&quot; and take it half full of water. The influx of water will wash the eggs around some 

 what, and dilute the dirty water remaining in the pan. This is to be poured off, as before, 

 and the operation repeated until the water looks perfectly clear. There will be some dirt 

 and droppings of the trout still left, which can be carefully picked out with the nippers. If 

 an egg should happen to be broken while being taken from the trout every vestige of it 

 should be carefully removed, as the slimy, sticky contents will get on the other eggs and kill 

 them. The eggs are now ready to be placed in the trough. 



From the above description it will be seen that a few lessons in artificial impregnation 

 from an experienced hand will probably save the beginner much time and money. A writ 

 ten description of the process, however good, can never take the place of verbal instruction; 

 partly because it never conveys exactly the same idea to all, partly because seeing a thing is 

 better than hearing about it, and mostly because a written description is a general one, and 

 hardly ever tells of the minutiae and variations which constantly occur in practice. As an 

 example of this it has been urged, all through this book, that in moving the eggs the begin 

 ner should not touch them with the feather, but should move the water over them, so that 

 the eggs should follow the current thus created; also that he should be very careful, in 

 removing the dead eggs, not to touch the others with the nippers. But we constantly move 

 the eggs with the feather, and push to one side the sound eggs with the nippers, in order to 

 get at the dead ones. The reason simply is that long practice has given the knack of doing 

 it, without injury to the eggs, that a tyro does not possess. 



General Management of Eggs Placing in Troughs, etc. The eggs of a trout 

 are about one-sixth of an inch in diameter and nearly round. They are generally of a light 

 straw or salmon color. The color varies with the meat of the fish; the redder the meat the 

 more orange-colored are the eggs. They are generally of a light yellow or amber color at 

 first, and grow darker as the eggs grow older. Their specific gravity is a little greater than 

 that of water, so that they will sink in water, but may be easily moved in it. Suppose that 

 the eggs are obtained and you have them in a shallow pan. The water in the troughs should 

 be raised by placing a narrow strip across the trough upon one of the two-inch strips dividing 

 the nests. Then sink the pan gently to the edge in the water of the trough, at the same time 

 tipping the pan, so that the water in the trough and in the pan shall come together with as 

 little current as possible. Then the edge of the pan may be sunk into the water, and by tip 

 ping the pan a little more the eggs will flow out without injury. By moving the pan while 

 the eggs are running out, they may be spread uniformly over the bottom. If they fall in a 

 heap, take the bearded end of a feather, and move the water with it in the direction you wish 

 the eggs to go, and they will follow the current thus created. This may be done without 

 touching the eggs with the feather. Distribute the eggs as evenly as possible over the sur 

 face of the nest. &quot;Where they are placed upon wire sieves, these may be moved and shaken 

 under water so as to distribute the eggs evenly. 



The strip which was placed across the trough to raise the water should then be removed. 

 Care must be taken that it be not removed so suddenly as to cause a rush of water, which 

 would carry most of the eggs away with it. Raise the strip a little way from the bottom, so 

 as to let the water run out gradually, and when it is very nearly or altogether at the proper 

 level the strip may be removed entirely. Those who have a nursery attached to the troughs 

 place the earliest eggs in the lower end of the trough, and keep placing them toward the top, 

 so that the fish which are first hatched can run first into the nursery without disturbing the 

 others. We practice placing the eggs in the highest end of the trough first, because the eggs 

 earliest placed hatch out first, and the water should be raised over them, as they require 

 more oxygen than the egg. If these first should be placed at the lower end of the trough, 

 in order to do this the water must be raised over all the eggs; if at the upper end, strips can 

 be placed upon the nests in succession as the eggs hatch out and the water left running 

 upon the unhatched eggs as usual. About ten thousand may be placed in each nest eighteen 

 inches by fifteen inches. 



If the eggs have been received from a trout breeder they should be left in the packages 

 in which they have been sent until the troughs are ready for them. Persons will sometimes 

 take the tin boxes containing the eggs out of the sawdust in which they were packed and set 

 them in the water of their troughs, with the idea, perhaps, of getting the eggs in the box to 



