CHAPTER IT. 



WORK IN' THE HATCHING-HOUSE. 



BY the 20th October all the hatching-boxes have been re-charred 

 and carried back to be placed in the hatching-house. The 

 carpenter attached to the Fishery then fixes the divisions, slips, 

 cleats, and break-waters in the boxes, while the Manager himself 

 scours all the pipes and the two large distributing-tanks the 

 successful working of the house for the next six months depending 

 on these being in perfect order. It is of the utmost importance 

 that no hammering and no workmen be permitted in the hatching- 

 house from the time the first ova be laid down till the last pellet 

 be hatched. 



By the 25th October everything is ready for the reception of 

 ova, with the exception of the grilles, which are laid down as 

 required before each day's spawning. Grilles are placed in about 

 forty boxes, this being the largest number hitherto filled in a 

 single day's spawning. The collecting-pails are carried to the 

 hatching-house, and the work of laying down the ova commenced. 

 As the pails are carried into the house, the Manager receives 

 them, and, pouring off all the water from one pail, proceeds 

 to lay down the ova with a glass measure holding about one- 

 sixteenth of a gallon. Two of these measures are poured on 

 each grille, the mouth of the glass being partially closed by 

 the fingers of the left hand, so that the ova is distributed in an 

 evenly thick line across the centres of the glass tubes. With a 

 little practice this can be done so accurately that, when all the 

 boxes are charged, a very slight tilt given to each box in turn 

 spreads the ova evenly over the grille, and the work of feather- 

 ing is reduced to a minimum. 



As the bulk of eggs varies according to the cube of the diameter, 



