108 



the eggs ; so that it seems better to have in the pond an 

 equal number of males and females, thereby giving more 

 chance of saving some of the milt till the last of the 

 season. The males are very amorous and will pair again 

 and again. It very often happens that some of them 

 die from the exhausting effects ot the season. The best 

 way is to have an equal number ot males and females, 

 everything considered. 



TAKING SPAWN BY HAND. The trout will not spawn 

 in the ponds where the bottom consists of large stones 

 or weeds ; but if there is sand or gravel anywhere on 

 the bottom of the ponds they will spawn on it: There- 

 fore be careful to have only the raceway, where the 

 water enters, covered with gravel. In October this may 

 be washed and cleaned from the weeds which will have 

 grown in it during the year. As soon as the fish are ready 

 to spawn they will ascend from the ponds into the race- 

 way seeking a place to nest. Then they are ready to be 

 taken out and the spawn expressed. At the entrance of 

 the raceway there should be grooves to receive a frame 

 on which is tacked a net of coarse bagging about eight 

 or ten feet long. One corner of this bag should be nar- 

 rowed, left unsewn, and tied with a string, like the 

 mouth of a meal sack. The race should be covered over 

 in spawning time, as the fish will come under the cover 

 better and are not- so likely to be frightened by any one 

 passing. If there are fifteen hundred or two thousand 

 fish in the pond the net may be used ever} 7 day in the 

 height of the season, and when the fish become scarce, 

 once in two or three days. 



Indications of spawning having been observed, the 

 covers are put on the races, and as soon as there are fish 

 in the raceway, the net is gathered up in one hand and 

 the frame held in the other, in such a position as to be 



