CHAPTER VI. ; 



COLLECTING THE EGGS. 



The old method as employed at Troutdale HatcheryOva hunting in Cumber--' 

 Iqnd Work on a natural stream The water ouzpl Blank days Honister Crag 

 Ulleswater Advantages of the present system Spawning trout Laying down- 

 the eggs Embryology Dry method of impregnation Catching the spawners~ t 

 Sorting Cleanliness Effects of temperature Washing the eggs Hermaphrodite - 

 fish. . r. . 



|T is now rather more than a; century since the re-discovery;' 

 in Europe of the art of fecundating and hatching fish ova by 

 artificial means, but for many years the matter was only understood 

 very imperfectly by a few persons,, and was looked upon as nothing 

 more than an interesting scientific experiment. For a long time 

 it was supposed that the gravelly bed of a stream was necessary-^ 

 for the successful hatching of the ova of Salmonidce, and the 

 earliest form of hatching apparatus consisted of nothing but boxes'" 

 with perforated sides, through which the water could flow, and 

 which were sunk in the stream, filled with gravel and ova, and in 

 due course, in many cases, some of the ova hatched. Even when 

 I commenced the propagation of trout in this country thirty years 

 ago, little comparatively was known of the proper ;! methods of 

 dealing with the ova and the young fish which they produced. 

 But now all this is changed, and the ova can be 7 " taken and 

 properly impregnated, and more than that, they can be properly 

 incubated and hatched, and the delicate little beings kntiwn as 

 " alevins " can be grown into large fish, as surely as the gardener 

 can from his seeds produce a rich crop of flowers or vegetables, as 

 the case may be. * 



I well remember in my" early days the keen enjoyment 

 experienced in hunting the mountain streams for the various 

 breeds of fish, destined to become the ultimate producers of a far 



