28 TROUT CULTURE. 



cient the pisciculturist may be in the use of a landing- 

 net, it is always advisable to have stop-nets to check 

 the escape of the fishes. 



If there are any holes under the banks made by 

 water-rats they should be examined, as trout frequent 

 them. If the net will not reach right to the end of 

 the hole, the arm must be thrust in, and the hand will 

 often find a fish at the end of the opening : the hand 

 is passed gently along so as to be able to grasp the 

 fish just above the tail, it is then suddenly closed, and 

 the fish " tailed out " on to the bank, and put into a 

 tub or foot-pan of water whilst others are sought for. 



When all have been caught, the sexes should be 

 determined, and the unripe fish, if any, transferred to 

 the box mentioned at the end of the previous chapter. 



The sexes are readily distinguished, as at spawning 

 time the eggs will be felt in the spawner or hen fish, 

 whilst in the male the milt being a liquid, is easily 

 recognized. In taking a fish out of a net, if in any- 

 thing like proper order for spawning, a few eggs or a 

 drop of milt will generally appear, even with the gen- 

 tlest handling. Unless a fish is thoroughly ripe it 

 should be kept in the box till it is so, as unripe eggs' 

 or milt are quite useless for hatching purposes. 



When the sexes are determined, and the ripe fish 

 separated, we have to consider the proportionate num- 

 bers of each sex. Some days we have more cocks 

 than hens, others the reverse, or even all hens and no 

 cocks. As one cock will, if " full," suffice to impreg- 

 nate two, or even three hens, it is advisable, if possible, 

 to reserve a cock or two in case of being short of milt 

 on a future occasion. 



Having mentioned all this, we will suppose that 



