1 86 How to obtain it. 



There are other ways of manipulating them, and I suppose 

 that at every hatchery the plan will vary somewhat, but, after 

 trying many other methods, I have found the one described to be 

 the best and simplest. Two thousand eggs are placed on a layer 

 very often, and in this way forty thousand eggs occupy the same 

 space as a much smaller number would, thus saving labour and 

 freight to ourselves, and a lot of trouble and half freight on 

 empties to the receivers. I have carefully tried many experiments 

 with ova in order to ascertain the necessary conditions for con- 

 veying with safety the largest number of eggs in a given space of 

 reasonable dimensions. 



A great deal more depends upon the packing, the temperature, 

 the supply of oxygen, and the preparation of the moss than most 

 people suppose. To begin with, then, let us consider the moss 

 itself. I tried a good many kinds of moss, and there are several 

 kinds that under proper cultivation may readily be made to answer 

 all the purposes required. But to gather mosses indiscriminately, 

 taking any likely-looking stuff that comes to hand first, is not the 

 way to promote the safety of the eggs. Many mosses grown in 

 woods are unsuitable, from the fact of their being so much of 

 foreign admixture among them in the shape of minute bits of 

 stick, rotten leaves, roots (some of which may be highly poisonous), 

 and other matter. Those found in very wet places often grow so 

 luxuriantly that the lower parts decay, and are on that account not 

 good for packing ova. I have found some sphagnum beds to be 

 full of animal life, and others again containing Saprole^nia^ or fish 

 fungus. In a large establishment, where everything has to be 

 systematized, the moss is felted, and as only some kinds can be 

 readily manufactured into felts, the moss question becomes a very 

 serious one. So much is used at the Solway Fishery that it has 

 become needful to grow it, and this is an excellent way over the 

 difficulty, as it can be gathered clean and fresh, there being only 

 one year's growth to deal with. After it is gathered the ground is 

 replanted, and although no manure is applied, and the same crop 

 is taken off it each season, yet after several years the soil seems to 

 be in no way impoverished. The only change that has been 

 observed is that each succeeding season a finer and richer crop of 

 moss is produced. 



