CUETUEE OF YELLOW PEECH 193 



Spawn is deposited most abundantly a little 

 before daylight, but as the season advances fish 

 ■will be found at work at all hours. The strings 

 of eggs are laid among the branches of the 

 brush, usually one or two feet below the sur- 

 face, and occasionally underneath them, on the 

 bottom of the pond. They are found very fre- 

 quently on the surface, or so near to it that a 

 portion of the string is not submerged and 

 dies. 



Gathering the Eggs. — ^After spawning begins 

 the pond is to be visited every morning and 

 the strings removed, either with the hand or 

 by a small, shallow scap-net. The strings, as 

 gathered, are put in a bucket containing about a 

 quart of water. When the bucket is full, or the 

 work done, the eggs are taken to the hatchery 

 and placed in the jars for incubation. 



If the eggs are gathered from ponds where 

 naturally deposited by wild fish, in addition to 

 the bucket and egg-nets a boat, an egg-stick, 

 and floating-boxes, are needed. The egg-stick 

 is simply a small wand cut from a bush, and 

 at its tip must be left the stumps of a couple 

 of branches, so as to form a very small fork. 



