HOW TO SHIP FISH EGGS. 77 



allowed to stand a little, so that the water may 

 drain offthrough the holes in the bottom, and the 

 damp, spongy moss be left, which forms an elastic 

 cushion to protect the eggs from the effects of sud- 

 den jolts on the journey, and to supply them with 

 oxygen. When the water is all drained off, the 

 covers are to be placed on the boxes, and tied on 

 with stout string. Great care must be taken not to 

 drop the box in handling it, as it would probably 

 result in the death of all the eggs. I have learned 

 this by experience. 



A single box of the above dimensions will hold 

 about five hundred eggs of brook trout. The tin 

 boxes are then packed in sawdust in a pail or box, 

 which should be provided with a handle. The saw- 

 dust should cover the boxes for at least an inch, and 

 then, if they are not exposed to a freezing tempera- 

 ture, or a hot fire, and if not roughly handled, they 

 will travel thousands of miles in good condition. I 

 have kept them sixty days in such boxes and 

 hatched them successfully. 



Care should be used that none of the eggs touch 

 the sides of the box, and they should not be pressed 

 too tightly. Clean, bright, tin boxes, free from rust, 

 should be used, as eggs coming in contact with 

 iron rust almost invariably die. Trout eggs stand 

 transportation best at about twenty days old. Fish 

 eggs are also shipped successfully in large quantities 

 in wooden crates packed in moss, the eggs being 

 laid on mosquito netting, and also covered with 

 a piece of the same, so as to keep them in place and 

 to facilitate unpacking them. They are also shipped 

 in wooden boxes which are fitted with wooden 



