1 82 How to obtain it. 



extent, more favourable for the use of such an apparatus, than the 

 comparatively higher one in this country. But whatever be the 

 reason, I am satisfied of one thing, and that is, that the grille 

 system is the one of all others for successful work in Britain! It 

 gives the eggs plenty of room, and removes all danger of suffoca- 

 tion where a good current is run over them. The carbonic acid 

 given off by the egg is at once carried off, and the absorption of 

 the oxygen from the water is unhindered. 



In Germany, perforated glazed pottery is used extensively for 

 hatching ova upon, and, with the water welling up through the 

 perforations, it does very good work. It has its objections, 

 however, those of cost and liability to breakage being not the 

 least. A broken tube in a grille is easily repaired, or replaced, but 

 not so with a piece of pottery. To repair a broken tube, all that 

 is necessary is to insert a piece of charred wood, cut to the proper 

 size, into one of the broken pieces, so that half of it remains 

 projecting. Then slip the other portion of the tube over this 

 projecting piece, and the tube is again ready for use. Grilles can 

 be made of ordinary window glass cut into strips, and fitted into a 

 cogged or notched wooden frame. The cost of making the frames, 

 seeing that every cog has to be separately charred, is considerable, 

 and it is on this account chiefly that they have fallen into disuse. 

 A few still remain in operation in my own hatcheries, and 

 considering only the hatching of the ova they do quite as well, if 

 not better, than the more modern arrangement of glass tubes or 

 rods. It has been suggested that the rough edges of the glass 

 will cause injury to the ova, but this is by no means the case. I 

 have hatched many millions of ova most successfully on these 

 grilles, and have found them to work very well indeed. The 

 advantages of the more modern invention are that they are a little 

 easier to make, and the glasses are not so apt to fall out, and those 

 who have to use them prefer them to the old style. 



One of the chief things to be avoided in a hatchery is the 

 overcrowding of the eggs. It should never be permitted under 

 any circumstances. I have tried a number of experiments with 

 ova, with a view to economising space when necessary, and many 

 years ago, before baskets and cages were thought of, I invented a 

 hatching-box, in which several grilles can be placed one over the 



