57 
It takes about four days for the germinal disc to grow 
over the yolk and enclose it. It was thought that if the 
egos could be kept quietly for four days at the point where 
they were taken, that they would be much more likely to 
withstand the subsequent transportation and the handling 
necessitated by running them in jars. 
At my suggestion, Mr. Lydell on May 23, fertilized a 
batch of eggs by the use of starch. Seven pints of the 
egos were placed in hatching boxes in the river, and three 
pints were placed on trays in shipping boxes. At the end 
of four days both lots were sent to the Detroit hatchery. 
When about to hatch, the good eggs were measured, and 
it was found that of those placed in hatching boxes there 
were three pints, or 43 per cent., while of those kept on 
trays there were 61 per cent. good. This is an average 
gain of about 20 per cent. over the average results of the 
last few years. 
A second trial was made as follows: On May 5, 1,050,- 
000 eggs taken with starch were placed in hatching boxes. 
On May 29 they were shipped to Detroit and put in jars 
until they hatched on June 2. Six hundred thousand, or 
57 per cent. of these eggs were then found to be good. 
Finally, it was thought that the advantage thus gained 
might be increased by holding the eggs in the hatching 
boxes until they were hatched. The first trial of this sort 
yielded 56 per cent. of good eggs by the starch method. 
The following comparative test was then made: On May 9 
eight quarts of eggs were taken, four by the use of starch 
and four in the ordinary way. There was no other differ- 
ence between the two sets of eggs. After they had filled 
they were placed in hatching boxes. On May 27 they 
were about to hatch. About 2,000 eggs were taken at 
random from each box after stirring the eggs in the box, 
and counted. The eggs taken were an average sample of 
the eggs inthe box. Those treated without starch showed 
50 per cent. of good eggs, while those that had been 
