FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 113 



CHAPTER X. 

 SPAWNING. 



In the cultivation of fisheries on scientific lines too much im- 

 portance cannot be attached to the wisdom of the old adage 

 which teaches that it is inadvisable to attempt to run before 

 one has learned to walk. But the time comes to us all when 

 we may venture to increase ooir knowledge ; and the time will 

 surely come to those of my readers who practically test the 

 value of the hints I have given in the preceding chapters, 

 when they will not remain content with merely forming fisher- 

 ies and therein rearing fish, but they will wish to* spawn their 

 own stock fish and artificially hatch the ova so obtained; cr, 

 supposing they have no stock fish or an insufficient numbir of 

 them to start with, they will be eager to proceed with the 

 hatching of eggs obtained from some commercial fish-culture 

 establishment. 



In the case of spawners contained in a properly constructed 

 pond such ais I have described, it is a simple matter to catch 

 the fish for the purpose of spawning. One draw of the net 

 will be sufficient often for a morning's wcrk in "stripping'* 

 and preparing the ova for the hatchery. It may be necessary 

 to slightly lower the water in the pond, but this is not often the 

 case, and it is inadvisable to do so unless it be absolutely 

 necessary. Spawning operations should always b2 carried out 

 in the early part of the day, so that time remains for securely 

 " housing " the eggs before night. If you have to catch your 

 spawners from waters in which they live a " wild " life, then 

 you will have far more trouble. But the work of collecting 



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