TAKING THE EGGS. IO5 



trast in the impregnation of the eggs. Acquire, there- 

 fore, as much dexterity as you can in handling the fish. 



CLOSING NOTES. 



The spawning season for brook trout in New Eng- 

 land begins the first or second week of October. It 

 i ; earlier north of New England, and later south of it. 

 The length of the spawning period depends on the 

 equability of the temperature of the water. In ordi- 

 nary brooks, where the temperature of the water varies 

 with the temperature of the air, the spawning is over 

 by the middle of December, and often before* In 

 spring water, when the temperature is not affected by 

 the air, the trout sometimes continue to spawn all 

 winter. In Seth Green's ponds, the trout begin to 

 spawn the i2th of October, and continue spawning 

 till the ist of March. At the Cold Spring Trout 

 Ponds, they begin the same day, the i2th of October, 

 and finish the first week in December. 



All two-year-old trout spawn. Some yearlings do, 

 and some do not. The main dependence of the 

 trout breeder for eggs is on trout upwards of two years 

 old. The eggs of the trout are large compared with 



* I think it must be now admitted, in view of so much evi- 

 dence, that individual members of the Salmo family spawn in 

 the spring. How much is the rule and how much the excep- 

 tion we do not know. The Danube Salmon (Salmo hucho] all 

 do. See Artificial Fish Breeding, Fry, p. 52. There is also a 

 variety of salmon in the St. John River, N. B , that come up regu- 

 larly to spawn in the spring. The same is reported of the Brit- 

 ish rivers Wye and Severn. See River Fisheries, " Land and 

 Water," April 29 and May 20, 1871. 

 5* 



