168 THE TROUT 



culturist, who undertakes to supply them at a reason- 

 able price. 



Produced from large, healthy, selected fish which 

 have been reared and conditioned for the purpose, 

 such ova are much larger, and should give you a far 

 better result than eggs taken indiscriminately from 

 wild fish by inexperienced hands. 



Great differences are observable in the colour, 

 the size, and the vitality of ova taken from different 

 trout. The colour follows that of the female fish's 

 flesh, and the hue of the flesh being determined by 

 diet, it follows that the colour of the ova is attribut- 

 able to the spawner's feeding. 



In batches of eggs from different localities all 

 variations of tint are exhibited, from ' splendid coral 

 red ' to a pale yellow, some again being ' almost white 

 as peas,' yet all healthy ova. 



Eggs, the produce of large well-conditioned 

 females of 3, 4, and 5 Ibs., are much superior to the 

 ova of small hill-burn trout. In the first place, the 

 eggs are larger that is to say, they run fewer to the 

 gallon. 



Sir Jarnes Maitland's figures are : for first-class 

 trout, 28,000 eggs per gallon, ordinary trout, 40,000, 

 well-bred trout, 32,000, ordinary wild lake trout, 

 40,000, wild hill-burn trout, 50,000. 



