386 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



small needle tied to a stick ; but the toughness of the ova re- 

 sists the prod of the needle, and goes on slipping about. * * * 

 The best plan, by very far, is to twist up a piece of fine brass 

 wire into an eye just big enough to take the ova^ tie it to a 

 fine-pointed handle, bend it to the most convenient angle for 

 lifting, softly introduce it between the ova and under the one 

 you wish to withdraw, and fetch it out swiftly, but steadily." 



SPECIAL DIRECTIONS ABOUT PREPARING SPAWNING-BOXES. 



The following explanations were made by one of the fish- 

 culturists engaged on the Tay, in Scotland : 



The boxes for containing the ova were twenty-four in num- 

 ber, each being six feet long, eighteen inches wide, nine inches 

 deep, and open at the top. The whole were disposed in a 

 double row, parallel with the original course of the rill. Each 

 row consisted of twelve boxes, placed end to end, the beds of 

 the foremost commencing shortly below the lower end of the 

 dam. A piece of three inches in depth and nine in width was 

 cut from each log, in order to allow a free passage for the 

 stream through the whole series. At the junction of each 

 box was nailed a sheet of tin, with turned-up sides, to pre- 

 vent the escape of the water. A couple of pipes, a yard in 

 length and two inches in diameter, conveyed the stream to 

 the foremost box in each row, the end of the pipes inserted in 

 the dam being covered with fine wire gauze to prevent the 

 entrance of trout and insects. The whole were arranged on 

 a gentle slope, so as to avoid stagnation, and insure a tolera- 

 bly rapid flow of water. 



The boxes being arranged, a strata on which to place the 

 ova was then formed. It consisted of a mixture of sand and 

 gravel, of the depth of several inches, upon which were de- 

 posited pebbles of the ordinary size of road metal. When 

 properly prepared for the reception of the ova, the stream av- 

 eraged two inches in depth above the pavement. 



At a short distance below the dam two ponds were con- 

 structed to contain the fry, the one receiving the stream from 



