PREPARING FRY. 65 



changed ; air required to be supplied either by splashing the 

 water or by bellows, and an attendant's constant anxiety fre- 

 quently supplied an illustration of the proverb, " Care killed the 

 cat," especially if he solaced himself with a pipe of tobacco 

 during an extra long spell a.t the bellows. In those days fry 

 were very costly, and, as a natural sequence, they were carefully 

 counted before despatch. Now, if there is one thing more fatal 

 to fry than another, it is catching and counting them ; the least 

 touch removes the mucous, and fungus follows. This was very 

 early discovered at Howietoun, and many methods were tried to 

 mitigate the evil. They were caught up on perforated zinc, 

 counted, and washed off into a pail ; they were skimmed up with 

 a light muslin skimmer mounted on fine wire ; they were spooned 

 up with a soup-spoon ; they were shovelled up in a miniature 

 dust-pan (used for sanding birds' cages) ; they were poured into 

 milk-plates, and counted as they passed over the spout into a 

 pail ; but none of these methods were satisfactory. The minia- 

 ture dust-pan was, however, far the best and quickest of the lot. 



After much consideration, and seeing that two grilles of ova 

 were laid down to hatch in each box which was always 7000 

 eggs, and frequently more than 8000, it was decided to sell fry by 

 the box, guaranteed to be not less than 5000. This left a margin 

 of about 50 per cent., and the Fishery had the satisfaction of 

 knowing that the fry despatched were uninjured ; and although 

 the price might appear high in comparison with that of ova, the 

 results obtained were so satisfactory that the sale of fry has 

 steadily increased every year. 



PREPARING FRY. 



The preparation of fry is a very difficult matter. It does 

 not do to starve them, or they lose vitality, and cannot find 

 their own food when turned adrift in strange waters. On the 

 other hand, if they are fully fed, they travel uncommonly badly. 

 We have found them travel best if fed on sheep's liver for a week 

 before they start ; but it makes a foul mess on the bottom of the 

 box, which must be carefully cleaned before pouring the fry out, 



