CHAPTER IX. 



PACKING AND UNPACKING THE EGGS. 



Ova to the Antipodes The tropics Various methods Modus operandi at the 

 Solway Fishery Selecting and preparing the moss Its cultivation Woven fabric 

 Best time to pack Ova hatch rapidly on unpacking Long voyages Unpacking 

 Washing off the moss Fully eyed eggs. 



I T is now pretty well known that trout and other ova can be 

 packed and sent with success, not only to any part of the 

 British Isles, but to any portion of the world that may be desired. 

 If has- been so sent, and the waters of the Antipodes have been 

 most successfully stocked, as we have seen, by means of ova sent 

 out first from this country. Attempts are being made to stock 

 some of the hill streams of the tropics. Up on the mountains, 

 where the atmosphere is cool and the cold snow water comes 

 down the streams, trout should succeed well, and it is by means 

 of ova that they must be introduced. 



The use of ova, too, is destined to play a very important part 

 in the stocking of our waters at home, and therefore the packing 

 of the delicate little morsels becomes a matter of very great 

 importance. I find it is rather a common notion that trout eggs 

 can be packed up by anyone at a moment's notice, and with very 

 little trouble. A greater mistake could not be. The successful 

 packing of ova is an art that has to be learned by careful training 

 and experience. I have, in the course of my life, received a great 

 many consignments of ova from a great many different people, 

 both at home and abroad. When I say that no two senders have 

 packed their eggs exactly in the same way, it will be apparent that 

 there is a great diversity of idea on the subject. I have seen eggs 



