CHAPTER XIX. 
CARE OF THE EGGS. 
‘‘In the morning sow thy seed,” says SoLoMoN :—This advice 
of the Sage of the East has many applications to the affairs of 
every day life, and amongst other things it may well apply to 
the subject under consideration, not in its literal sense, but in the 
spirit of the admonition. As the early morning is the best time to 
sow seed, so is the morning of the season the best time to spawn the 
fish, as they are then in their best condition for that process, and 
besides the young will have a much better opportunity to grow with- 
out molestation, their most inveterate enemies not appearing until 
after the season is further advanced. Thus it is that a greater per- 
centage survives, which, becoming marketable before the main crop 
arrives, bring higher prices and give the culturist encouragement by 
a quick return upon his labor and capital. 
Again our quotation hits the mark, for the earlier the spawn is 
taken from the bed the greater will be the reduction of losses, as by 
leaving it exposed, the spawners themselves devour it. 
The early morning is the favorite time for the goldfish to spawn, 
though it is sometimes kept up until noon. The fish are seen chas- 
ing each other and rolling over the material thrown into the water 
for that purpose. Upon inspection of the loosely floating clumps of 
roots, we discover that they have adhering to them a great many’ 
small round watery-white, creamy or yellow colored balls about the 
size of a pinhead; these are the eggs of the goldfish. The bunches 
of roots are then carefully removed from the water, and the individ- 
ual rootlets bearing the eggs are either cut off with a knife or pair of 
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