BUILDINGS. 45 



The size of the hatching house depends on the 

 amount of work to be done in it. A room thirty feet 

 long and eighteen feet wide will have hatching space 

 for one hundred thousand eggs, besides passage-ways 

 between the troughs, or hatching-stands, and con- 

 siderable spare room to keep the gravel-boxes, and 

 to work in. 



For more eggs you will of course need more room ; 

 but, whatever the amount of business you do, it should 

 be remembered that it is far better to have too much 

 room than too little. I know of few things more dis- 

 agreeable than a cramped hatching house.* 



The hatching house should be located near the 

 spring or reservoir which supplies it with water ; for 

 the longer the aqueduct which takes the water from 

 the spring to the house, the greater is the risk of the 

 water going wrong. The house should also be placed, 

 if possible, so that the water will enter it several feet 

 above the floor. This will enable the hatching appa- 

 ratus to be elevated to a convenient height for examin- 

 ing the eggs standing or sitting, which is a great ad- 

 vantage ; and I think it is better, on the whole, to incur 

 the risk of a longer aqueduct from the spring, if neces- 

 sary, to obtain this advantage. 



No fire is required in the hatching room, to keep the 

 water warm.t That keeps warm of itself, and also keeps 



* Our hatching-house at the Mirimichi Salmon Breeding 

 Works is a hundred feet long. 



t It is an addition to one's personal comfort to have a stove in 

 the hatching house, though it may not be required to warm the 

 water. 



