THE SPAWNING RACE. 73 



worth screens, each two feet square and occupying 

 a space in the race-way forty feet long and four 

 feet wide, with one of the new spawning-boxes of 

 the same dimensions. 



1st. By the old way it would take two men a 

 good half day to remove the screens singly, feather 

 off the eggs in a careful manner, and return each 

 (double) screen to its proper place. 



It would take the new spawning-box about fif- 

 teen minutes to do the same work with one man. 



2d. The weight of the gravel which has to be lifted 

 in the old way every time the eggs are removed, 

 amounts to many tons in the course of a season. 



In the new box the gravel is not lifted at all. 



3d. By the old way the operator's hands must 

 of necessity be more or less wet during the whole 

 operation. Now, as the trout and salmon spawn 

 during the winter season, when the thermometer 

 generally stands below the freezing point, taking 

 eggs in the old way is not only inconvenient and 

 painful, but often impossible. 



By the new way the hands are not made wet and 

 may be kept comfortably gloved. 



4th. By the old way more or less of the eggs are 

 lost by careless feathering, exposing the eggs to 

 the freezing atmosphere, clumsiness in handling 

 the screens (caused by cold fingers), tipping of the 

 screens, wash of the current, etc., etc. 



4 



