SALT SOLUTION AS AN AID TO FISH CULTURE. 
BY HENRY O MALLEY, OF BAKER, WASH. 
The floating properties of the salt solution first attracted my 
attention while using it to clear up eggs which had been removed 
from the spawning beds of salmon to ascertain whether or not 
they contained embryo. Later on the knowledge that Mr. Me- 
Naughton of Roy, Washington, had an egg-picking process for 
sale suggested the question: “Why cannot good and bad e 
separated through their difference in weight ?” 
ges be 
The first experiments were conducted with eggs of the quin- 
tokols 
nat salmon, a limited number of good and bad eggs at 450 tem- 
perature units stage of development being placed in a solution 
of equal parts of salt and water with the result that all the eggs 
floated. Water was then added and a solution of one part salt 
and nine parts water formed, at which point the good eggs slow- 
ly separated from the bad ones and settled to the bottom. The 
bad eggs remained on the top only a minute to a minute and a 
half, but there was ample time to remove them with a net. Later 
eggs of the blueback salmon were tested with similar results, 
but as the loss on this species is always very small, experiments 
were not extensive. ‘Ten millon silver salmon eggs were then 
tested and the greater portion of them were subject to the solu- 
tion with absolutely no harm and with a great saving in time 
over the old method of picking eggs by hand. 
In order to ascertain whether or not the salt solution is harm- 
ful, eggs at 449 and 490 temperature units developement were 
placed in a one to six solution and held for ten minutes. When 
removed they were indented, had the appearance of eggs in a 
shipping case that had become too dry, and in a few instances 
the main artery or vein seemed distended near the heart. After 
remaining in the water some few days, however, this distention 
disappeared and the eggs hatched without loss. The resulting 
fry did well up to the time of feeding, and when liberated they 
were strong and healthy. A solution one to seven was tried in 
the same manner with similar results. The solution one to nine 
was now tested and at the end of ten minutes no change had 
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