76 Modern Fishculture in Fresh and Salt Water. 



Mr. W. Oldham Chambers, secretary of the Na- 

 tional Fishculture Association of England, in his his- 

 tory of fishculture, "Land and Water," March 27, 1886, 

 says : "We may well take a lesson from the American 

 system of packing, which is very simple, but most effi- 

 cacious in attaining the desired end, which is to dimin- 

 ish as much as possible the rate of mortality through 

 injury. In the first place, the ova are placed into trays, 

 consisting of calico (canton flannel) stretched upon 

 wooden frames, which are deposited one above the 

 other in the centre of a large box, each tray being inter- 

 laid with moss. Around the pyramid of trays, which 

 are fixed firmly into position, a partition is reserved, 

 serving as a receptacle for ice and sawdust two most 

 important factors in transmitting ova. On arrival at 

 their destination the eggs can be readily unpacked by 

 removing the trays from the box, clearing away the 

 moss between each, and turning, the ova en masse by 

 means of water into the hatching troughs. The orig- 

 inator of this capital method is, I believe, Mr. Fred 

 Mather, of New York. I am able to testify to the fact 

 that not more than thirty eggs out of every thousand 

 sent me at various periods have perished during the 

 journey from New York to London, which is an evi- 

 dence of the skill displayed in packing them." 



Very often I received foreign eggs packed in the 

 old style, and after picking out the dead ones reported 

 the remainder in good order, being required to make 

 an immediate report. But I learned to deduct at least 

 half because, with my first report in hand, I was ex- 

 pected to turn out a proportionate lot of fry. 



Many "good" eggs either died a week later or pro- 

 duced deformities which could never live. It is a. fact 

 that an injury to an embryo is not always fatal (a no- 



