26 THE EGG HARVEST. 



on which the operator kneels. A large Turkish towel is spread 

 in front of him, and the spawning-dish is placed with the 

 spout touching his left knee. A large square landing-net is 

 dipped by an attendant into the net, and about ten females lifted 

 out. A second attendant carries about half that number of males 

 from the net in their pond, and turns them into the tub. If this 

 number is much exceeded, or if they are left long in the tub, they 

 become sulky, and refuse to yield their milt. 



The first attendant places the landing-net with the females on 

 the grass so that its edge is about 6 inches above the Turkish 

 towel. The operator tails the fish with his left hand, and, resting 

 her head for a second on the towel, passes his right hand upwards 

 over the belly until his thumb and fore-finger rest against the 

 pectoral fins, three fingers being extended over the right oper- 

 culum. If the fish is large that is, from 6 Ibs. to 9 Ibs. she is 

 raised, and her back pressed against the right breast, the tail 

 being held a few inches over the bottom of the spawning-dish, 

 and pressed back to open the vent. If she is very ripe the eggs 

 will flow in an unbroken stream until only a few hundred are left, 

 which are quickly removed by passing the right hand downwards 

 over the belly, taking care not to use pressure until past the vitals. 

 If the fish is less than 5 Ibs. she can be easily stripped by merely 

 holding her over the plate in a similar position, and bending her 

 slightly backwards. This is the proper way to strip a trout or 

 grilse. No force is used, the handling reduced to a minimum, and 

 the fingers only passed once over the belly to extrude the few 

 remaining ova. Some fish, especially very old ones, are harder to 

 strip than others, and occasionally it may be necessary to press 

 the ova out by hand ; but the operator should consider this a rare 

 exception to the rule, and if he have sufficient skill, it will be so. 

 However, I must admit I have great difficulty in teaching others 

 to strip fish as gently and rapidly as I can do myself. When 

 a novice attempts to spawn fish the chances are much in favour of 

 her being dropped probably into the spawning-pan ; but after he 

 has learned to tail a fish properly with the left hand, it is as easy 

 to manage as a well-bitted horse, and is generally so passive as to 



