36 



veyance to market ; just as much as the culture of corn is 

 understood to mean not merely the sowing, but every step 

 from the preparation of the seed bed to the marketing of 

 the harvest. 



The acclimatization of freshwater fish I will consider 

 with special reference to the Salmonidae, and attempt to 

 foreshadow the results of the importation of some of the 

 best known foreign species. 



ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION. 



The artificial propagation of the Salmonidae is still in its 

 infancy, but the bearing it has on their cultivation in the 

 future is so important, I propose to commence this paper 

 with a short description of the process, and explanation of 

 the principles which are involved in the selection of a site 

 for, and in the erection of, a hatchery. 



THE HATCHERY. 



The most important requisite for the hatching house is 

 pure water ; it is indeed to a hatchery what coal is to a 

 steam-engine, all hatching apparatus of whatever kind 

 being merely mechanical devices for extracting and trans- 

 ferring from it the greatest amount of energy to the ova. 



WATER. 



Water in its natural state is frequently unsuitable for the 

 earlier processes in fish culture. It is subject to great 

 variations of temperature ; it is rendered muddy by rain, 

 and occasionally it is impregnated with lime or mineral to 

 a fatal extent. Water in Great Britain, taken from a 

 natural river even but a few miles from its source, is 

 generally so contaminated with pollutions resulting from 



