Collecting the Ova. 73 



rollers and belt revolve. The boxes holding 

 the gravel are each two feet square, and the 

 bottom is made of wire netting of half-inch 

 mesh. It is necessary that the fish should 

 not be able to get past the spawning-race, 

 or have any other gravel beds to spawn in. 

 The trays are filled with coarse gravel, which 

 the fish mistake for tbe natural river bed, 

 and the ova when deposited fall through, 

 and are caught on the revolving belt, which is 

 made of fine wire netting. A few turns of the 

 handle bring the ova to one end, where they 

 are caught in a pan, placed there for the 

 purpose. If the race be covered, the ova may 

 even be taken while the fish are spawning, 

 without disturbing them. I have tried this 

 race, but my fish did not spawn in it. In the 

 Botanical Gardens at Ballarat the spawning- 

 race was more successful, however, and a 

 quantity of ova was obtained from some trout 

 kept in a small pond, and afterwards hatched 

 out successfully. A full description of this 

 spawning-race, illustrated with plates, will be 

 found in " Domesticated Trout," a very 

 valuable work on fish culture, by Dr. Living- 

 ston Stone. Another way of obtaining ova from 



