344 TROUT CULTURE. 



a casualty of this nature being threatened, frequent 

 washings through a finely perforated watering pot 

 may avert the unfortunate result of neglect. These 

 discoloured eggs may in some cases hatch, but can 

 never be reared, the fry dying prematurely. 



Seasons vary, and in precisely the same ratio do 

 the times of spawning and hatching. The latter 

 operation does not always occur at a stated time 

 after incubation. Late eggs hatch much sooner 

 than early ones, the temperature of the air and 

 water gradually accelerating the operation. The 

 longer the time consumed in attaining maturity for 

 hatching, the more vigorous will be the brood. 

 From numerous experiments we gather that, with a 

 maximum temperature of water of about fifty-five 

 degrees, both salmon and trout ova may be hatched 

 in from ninety-two to one hundred and six days ; but 

 in the case of the salmon, if the temperature be under 

 forty degrees, the hatch will not take place under one 

 hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and forty 

 days. As the eggs ripen they swell considerably, and 

 assume a beautiful yellow colour. 



The general hatching period is heralded by the 

 appearance of several moving atoms more forward 

 than the rest, which have already burst the membrane. 

 This, the first stage of the trout's life, is called 

 the "Alevin" stage. The body consists of a fine 

 elongated substance, with a conspicuous pair of 

 optics ; this is sustained, horizontally, like the 

 trembling needle of the compass, by a much larger 

 body, which closely resembles a yellow ball of butter, 



