FERTILISINa TROUT EGGS 129 



handled witli dry hands, as fungus is certain 

 to develop where the trout has been grasped. 



When sorting his fish, three tubs are needed, 

 a small-mesh seine, a long-handled scoop-net 

 and a bucket. All the trout in the pond are 

 drawn to one spot, as near as possible to the 

 tubs, in each of which has been thrown a bucket- 

 ful of water. Then a number of the fish are 

 dipped out, transferred to one of the tubs, and 

 the sorting begins. The ripe females are gently 

 deposited in one tub, the ripe males in another, 

 and the hard fish back in the pond. 



After the sorting is completed, the fish are 

 carried into the hatching-house and placed in 

 tanks or hatching-troughs. The latter is prefer- 

 able, as it saves one handling. The strippers, 

 with the spawning-pan in front of them on a 

 box only a foot high, are seated while work- 

 ing, so that if, by mischance, which is not infre- 

 quent, a trout slips from the hands and falls to 

 the floor, it is not likely to meet with serious 

 injury. This plan, to my mind, is infinitely bet- 

 ter than the practice of standing at a bench or 

 barrel, as some fish-culturists do, for then the 

 accidental dropping of a trout is almost certain 



