53 



must be raised over all the eggs ; if at the upper end, strips 

 can be placed upon the nests in succession as the eggs 

 hatch out and the water left running upon the the un- 

 hatched eggs as usual. About ten thousand may be 

 placed in each nest eighteen inches by fifteen inches. 



If the eggs have been received from a trout breeder, 

 they should be left in the packages in which they have 

 been sent until the troughs are ready for them. Persons 

 will sometimes take the tin boxes containing the eggs 

 out of the sawdust in. which they were packed, and set 

 them in the water of their troughs, with the idea perhaps 

 of getting the eggs in the box to the same temperature 

 as the water before unpacking them. This will surely 

 kill the eggs in a few hours. Leave them in the original 

 package until a few hours before you are ready to place 

 them in the troughs. Then take out the tins and set 

 them over or neai the troughs, which will reduce or raise 

 the temperature enough. Then empty the box into a 

 tin pan fnll of water taken from the trough, pick out as 

 much moss as you can readily with your fingers or nip- 

 pers, and wash off tHe nest in the manner shown in direc- 

 tions for washing eggs hereafter. 



If the eggs have had decent treatment on the way, that 

 is not thrown about roughly or set near a red hot stove, 

 you should find very few dead eggs in the boxes, not more 

 than ten or twelve in one thousand. Should the eggs be 

 found, on opening the box, run together in lumps instead 

 of being evenly distributed, and turned to a dead white 

 or milky color, it shows rough usage on the way. 



Tempbeature op Water and Time of Incubation, — 

 The length of time required to hatch out the eggs de- 

 pends upon the temperature of the water. A general 

 rule sufficiently accurate for all-practical purposes is this : 

 At fifty degrees trout eggs will hatch out in fifty days, 



