REARING 169 



Trout rearing has often been compared with 

 sheep breeding. But here is a point in which the 

 two sciences differ. For his ewes to bear only one 

 lamb apiece is not an advantage to the sheep farmer, 

 even though each lamb be one of singular promise. 

 The more lambs you get from a given number of 

 ewes the better. It is not so with trout. What the 

 pisciculturist wants is big eggs. He wants quality 

 rather than quantity. A big egg has usually a stronger 

 vitality, and produces a larger and stronger fish. I 

 may mention here that the very best results are 

 obtained when the ova of selected breeders have been 

 fertilised by the use of wild males. 



The number of eggs produced by the salmonidre 

 is very small compared with the number produced by 

 other fishes. One thousand to each pound of its 

 weight is considered an average number of eggs to 

 be deposited by a spawning trout, which does not 

 weigh less than a pound. A salmon's average is 

 even less, being about 800 or 900 for every pound of 

 the fish's weight. 



According to Frank Buckland's table a pike of 

 4', Ibs. has 42,840 eggs, a perch of \ Ib. 20,592, and 

 a roach of ;| Ib. no less than 480,480 ; while in a sole 

 of i Ib. the number given is 134,466, and in a cod of 

 20 Ibs. the total reaches to m-arlv five millions. When 



