242 AMERICAN FISH CULTURE. 



upwards of £1200 per annum. The breeding-boxes of 

 Messrs. Martin and Gillone have been fitted up on a very 

 picturesque part of the river at Tongueland, and the num- 

 ber of eggs last brought to maturity is considerably over 

 100,000. The present series of hatchings for commercial 

 purposes was begun in 1862-3 with 25,000 eggs, followed 

 in the succeeding year by a laying down of nearly double 

 that number. The hatchings of these seasons were very 

 unsuccessful, the loss from many causes being very great, 

 for the manipulation of fish eggs during the time of their 

 artificial extraction and impregnation requires great care — 

 a little maladroitness being suflScient to spoil thousands. 



The last hatching (spring 1865) has been most suc- 

 cessfully dealt with. Messrs. Martin and Gillone's breed- 

 ing-boxes are all under cover, being placed in a large 

 lumber store connected with a biscuit manufactory. This 

 chamber is seventy feet long, and there is a double row of 

 boxes extending the whole length of the place. These 

 receptacles for the eggs are made of wood ; they are three 

 feet long, one foot wide, and four inches deep, and into the 

 whole se^-ies a range of frames has been fitted containing 

 glass troughs on which to lay the eggs. The edges of the 

 glass are ground ofi', and they are fitted angularly across 

 the current in the shape of a V. The eggs are laid down 

 on, or rather sown into, these troughs, from a store bottle, 

 on to which is fitted a tapering funnel. The flow of water, 

 which is derived from the river, and is filtered to prevent 

 the admission of any impurity, is very gentle, being at the 

 rate of about fifteen feet per minute, and is kept perfectly 

 regular. The boxes are all fitted with lids, in order to 

 prevent the eggs from being devoured, as is often done, by 

 rats and other vermin; and also to assimilate the condi- 

 tions of artificial hatching as much as possible to those of 

 the natural breeding-beds — where, of course, the eggs are 



