390 FISHING IN AMERICAN WATERS. 



side each three feet long, filled with narrow strips of glass, 

 with the sharp edges ground oif to prevent cutting the young 

 fish. The glass is laid across the stream, forming gutters, in 

 which the ova is placed in rows across the run of the water ; 

 the glass is supported in the frames three quarters of an inch 

 from the bottom of the box, the water flowing freely both 

 above and below the ova. These boxes are capable of hatch- 

 ing at a time 15,000 salmon or trout. This season we have 

 24,000 salmon eggs deposited in them, and the eggs are be- 

 coming quite visible. In depositing the ova in the several 

 boxes, I keep each fish's eggs separate, and marked on the 

 boxes 1, 2, 3, etc. I keep corresponding numbers in a book, 

 with a remark on each fish's roe at the time of spawning ; 

 and during the time of incubation, if I see any thing worthy 

 of notice, I take a note of the number and what has happened. 

 I pick out all the dead ova once or twice a week, and keep 

 an account of the number, and when the hatching is finished 

 I subtract the number of the dead from the number deposit- 

 ed, which will show about the quantity we have hatched. 



CAEE IN OBTAINING FECUNDATED SPAWN. 



Whenever practicable, it is desirable to take the trout 

 from the spawning-beds by means of nets, so as to insure the 

 maturity of the ova. It can best be done in the night. So 

 soon as caught, the fish should be placed in a large tub, or 

 other vessel, partially filled with water, till a milter and 

 spawner are taken. In ejecting the ova, the female should 

 first be held over a bucket or large tin can half full of water, 

 the lower end of the abdomen being inserted in the water, 

 in order to prevent the exposure of the ova to the air. A 

 gentle pressure of the hand from the thorax down each side 

 of the abdomen will discharge the ova, if mature, without the 

 least injury to the fish. The water in the bucket should then 

 be reduced to three or four quarts previously to ejecting the 

 milt of the male. In expelling the milt the course pursued 

 is precisely the same as that just described, the lower end of 



