132 DOMESTICATED TROUT. 



heit it generally appears within forty-eight hours after the 

 egg turns white, and often sooner, and the warmer 

 the water the quicker it comes. It is never quite safe 

 to leave the dead eggs over twenty-four hours in the 

 hatching boxes. The peculiarity of byssus is, that it 

 stretches out its long, slender arms, which grow rapidly, 

 over everything within its reach. This makes it pecu- 

 liarly mischievous, for it will sometimes clasp a dozen 

 or even twenty eggs in its Briarean grasp before it is 

 discovered, and any egg that it has seized has received 

 its death-warrant. Like the alga before mentioned, 

 every cell is reproductive ; and it should, on that 

 account be carefully handled. The remedy or protec- 

 tion is the daily examination of the eggs with feather 

 and nippers. If this is faithfully performed, the byssus 

 will never come. 



This examination of the eggs is a very considerable 

 part of the trout breeder's work in winter, and demands 

 to be treated at considerable length, which I shall en- 

 deavor to do in this connection. 



If your hatching streams would run just as you 

 wanted them to, if the filters were all right and would 

 remain so, if the eggs were all impregnated, this daily 

 examination would be a very easy task ; but as this is 

 too much to expect, you should be prepared to make 

 quite a labor of this daily duty, and the following sug- 

 gestions may be of some service in performing it. On 

 entering the hatching house, look first at the outlet 

 of all the hatching compartments. You will soon learn 

 to do so instinctively. They will tell you whether the 

 various streams are running right or not ; for if the 



