Trout Breeding. 35 



fish that I know of, ranging from five to ten to the 

 linear inch, which would make a difference of from 125 

 to 1,000 in a cubic inch if they could be arranged in 

 layers ; but a's they would lie closer, like shot, the differ- 

 ence would be greater. To get the number of eggs 

 taken from several trout it was my custom to measure 

 one ounce in a graduating glass and count them and 

 then measure the rest and multiply. A trout will spawn 

 at 18 months old ; it may then be from four to ten inches 

 long and its eggs will be in proportion and vary from 

 fifty to a hundred or more. A year later it may yield 

 over a thousand, dependent on its growth and condition. 

 I have taken nearly 5,000 eggs from a trout which might 

 have weighed four pounds, so that the old formula of 

 "a thousand eggs to the pound" is not a rule. From a 

 four-pound codfish I should expect 400,000 eggs. The 

 small eggs naturally produce small fish, but abnormally 

 large eggs do not seem to produce any better fish than 

 those of moderate size. For good, strong fry a trout at 

 its second spawning, when two and a half years old, is 

 my choice, and I would never voluntarily keep a trout 

 above that age. I say "voluntarily" because when in 

 charge of a State hatchery the Commissioners and the 

 people wanted to see big trout, and I had them up to 

 five pounds, and over, but they were of little use as 

 breeders and ate their heads off every month, and their 

 eggs were almost worthless. 



MARKETABLE TROUT. 



There is another reason why I would not keep any 

 trout after it had spawned the second time and recov- 

 ered the next spring, and that is this : It is too big for 



