EGG-BOXES AT STOBMONTFIELD. 85 



The artificial breeding of salmon is still carried on at these 

 ponds, and with very great success, when their limited extent is 

 taken into account : half-armilKon of eggs are hatched every 

 year. They have sensibly increased the stock of fish in the 

 Tay, and also, as I will by and by relate, under the separate 

 head of " The Salmon," contributed greatly to the solution of 

 the various mysteries connected with the growth of thstt fish. 

 The fish, it is remarkable, sufier no deterioration of any kind 

 by being bred in the ponds, and can compare in every respect 

 with those bred in the river. 



The plan of the ponds at Stormontfleld, as originally con- 

 structed, will be a better guide to persons desiring information 

 than any written description. The engraving on the opposite 

 page with the double pond, shows a design of my own, founded 

 on the Stormontfield suite ; it contains a separate pond for the 

 detention, for a time, of such large fish as may be taken with 

 their spawn not fuUy matured. Cottages for the superintendent 

 of the ponds and his assistants are also shown in the plan. 



The ponds at Stormontfield were originally designed with a 

 view to breed 300,000 fish per annum, but after a trial of two 

 years it was found, from a specialty in the natural history of 

 the salmon elsewhere alluded to, that only half that number of 

 fish could be bred in each year. Hence the necessity for the 

 smolt-pond which was added a few years ago, and which wiE 

 now admit of a hatching at Stormontfield of at least 500,000 

 eggs every year. Another reason for the construction of the 

 additional pond was the fact of the old one being too small in 

 proportion to the breeding-boxes. Its dimensions were 223 feet 

 by 112 feet at its longest and broadest parts. The second pond 

 is nearly an acre in extent, and well adapted for the reception 

 of the young fish. 



The egg-boxes at Stormontfleld, unlike those at Huningue, 

 are in the open air, and in consequence the eggs are exposed to 

 the natural temperature, and take, on an average of the seasons, 

 about 120 days to ripen into fish. For instance, the eggs laid 

 down in November 1872 did not come to life till 29th March 

 1873. The young fish, as soon as they are abLe to eat — ^which 

 is not for a good few days, the umbilical bag supplying all the 

 food required for a time by the newly-hatched animal — are 

 fed with particles of boiled liver. On the occasion of my 

 last visit Mr. Peter Marshall, the very intelligent keeper, 

 threw a few crumbs into each of the ponds, which caused an 



