150 How to obtain it. 



enter. It has been suggested that in the case of using large males 

 for the ova of small females, that the spermatozoa are too large to 

 enter the micropyles of the ova of small fish. This may or may 

 not be so, but the greater probability is that the diversity in the 

 ,. ages affects the fertilizing power, or too often the health of the 

 f embryos, or the future offspring. The age of the milters is I am 

 convinced an important consideration, and I prefer a com- 

 paratively young fish to an old one indeed, I do not keep male 

 fish more than seven years as a rule ; better knock them on the 

 head and market them. 



I must here, however, add a word of caution against using 

 very young fish as milters. Two-year-old males will yield milt, 

 and occasionally yearlings do so, but they should not be used. 

 The late Dr. Francis Day records a series of experiments (" British 

 and Irish Salmonidae," p. 26). which go far to show that both ova 

 and milt from young fish are not of good quality. Fish culturists 

 certainly know this to be the case as regards ova, and they know 

 also, that the males mature earlier than the females. Therefore, 

 the probabilities are, as regards old breeders, that by using 

 selected males that are younger than the females excellent results 

 will follow. A great deal depends upon the selection of the fittest, 

 and the more we come to understand this, the greater the measure 

 of success that attends our efforts. 



Formerly, the condition or age of a milter was never thought 

 of. Any fish that came to hand was taken, and probably even 

 now little attention is paid to the matter on some of our rivers 

 when fish are scarce. It is important, however, in the case of 

 salmon and other wild fish, to select suitable males, as it is 

 amongst fish on a farm, and must tell on the future crop of those 

 in a river. 



The spawning of the first fish is to the novice usually a time 

 of much interest, and often of some excitement. To tell exactly 

 when the fish are ripe, is a point about which many who have 

 consulted me evidently felt a little anxiety. There is not much 

 wonder at this, and experience must be bought in one way or 

 another with regard to dealing with fish at spawning time. A 

 beginner often gets on fairly well up to some point, where a 

 mistake is made which upsets the work a good deal, and for the 



