ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION 197 



angles and exact fitting of all fixed and movable parts of the box will be 

 seen to be of the utmost importance. For into every corner and crevice 

 the little creature will attempt to wriggle, and success, or partial success, 

 will almost certainly have fatal results. The best protection for them 

 at this time, beyond careful construction of the boxes, will be absolute 

 darkness in the hatchery. 



Not much need be said by way of hint or warning now. Care and 

 cleanliness are still essential. Risks of spate water must still be run 

 and guarded against. But the main thing is to see that the alevins do 

 not find out some new and original method of committing suicide. 

 Hence every joint and junction must be examined in the boxes, and no 

 flaw in the intake or outflow perforated zinc screens must be permitted 

 to remain. So, too, any dead or injured alevins should be removed at 

 once, as should also all " deformities," of which there are always a few. 

 These I have described in an earlier page. 



It is again necessary to contemplate a loss of stock up to the stage 

 when the alevin becomes a fry, but for obvious reasons the loss will 

 differ in every hatchery as so mucR will depend upon the personal 

 carefulness and skill of the hatchery manager, the excellence of his 

 appliances, and possibly the .stamina of the brood. There need be little 

 loss in average circumstances. 



Two questions now arise. The first is, where are our sea-trout fry 

 to be put? The second, how are they to be conveyed to the spot? 



I have not contemplated for our supposed hatchery any supple- 

 mentary system of rearing ponds. These would doubtless be of 

 enormous advantage, both for the fish and for the education of the 

 owner (as many instances have shown, and are daily showing), but they 

 are costly to construct and the stock is costly to feed and protect. Nor 

 do I think that the practical gain would entirely compensate the outlay, 

 though if money were no object I would certainly recommend their 

 construction. 



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