124 FISH FARMING : 



character, as it is of importance that the hatching boxes 

 should remain perfectly steady during the period the eggs are 

 "being incubated. 



As I have alredy remarked, if the water supply is obtained 

 direct from a spring, it may be conducted direct to the 

 Tiatchery, into the distributing box or boxes, and thence into 

 th.3 hatching boxes and over the eggs. The distributing box 

 is made on exactly the same principle ais one of the distributing 

 ponds shown in Fig. 10 in the chapter on the formation of 

 lakes and ponds ; only, of course, the distributing box in the 

 hatchery is but a. pond in miniature. The object, however, is 

 the same, i.e., to control and evenly distribute the water supp'y 

 to each set of hatching boxes independently. If the water 

 supply requires to be filtered, then the filter is placed at the. 

 head of the hatching house, and the water passes through it 

 before reaching the distributing box. Any effective filter 

 may be used, but the simplest and best I knew of for the 

 purpose is formed by placing a number (more or less, according 

 to the requirements of the case) of flainnel screens across a 

 long wood trough. The inlet is at one end of the trough, the 

 outlet at the other; consequently, the water has to pass 

 through the flannel screens before leaving the filtering trough. 

 A number of spare flannel screens are provided, so that, as 

 one lot is removed for cleansing purposes, others can be slid 

 in. The general appearance of a properly equipped hatchsry 

 is shown in the next illustration ; and Figs. 25 and 26 explain 

 the relative position of the filtering trough, distributing box, 

 and hatching boxes. Of course, the size of the hatchery de- 

 pends entirely upon the extent of the operations, and the 

 room required for a certain number of eggs is referred to in 

 the remarks that follow. Just ai few words of advice in this 

 connection : Do not cramp yourself for room, or you will live 

 to curs 3 the day you ever did SOL One requires plenty of 

 " elbow room " when engaged upon the important work con- 

 nected with the incubation and hatching of fish-eggs. 



In Figs. 25 and 26 the hatching boxes are marked A; in 

 Fig. 26 the distributing box is marked B, and the filtering 

 trough c. 



