THE ARTIFICIAL INCUBATION OF OVA 61 



he will find it difficult to hold it at all, and it will 

 require at least three men to hold it, and then the 

 task is not easy. I have known a salmon, in its 

 struggles, send pots, pans, water, and ova flying with 

 one dash of his tail. The softness of the belly is the 

 best test here. In greyling, the belly is less soft, the 

 fish being more of a hard and scaly nature generally. 

 A slight pressure, however, if greyling, or salmon, or 

 trout, be at all ripe, wiU usually be sufficient to 

 extrude two or three eggs, when the fish should be 

 carefaUy put up until all preliminaries are prepared 

 for operation. How the fish are to be kept alive de- 

 pends entirely upon the conveniences at hand. In 

 some rivers, a little pool can often be made at the 

 iriver's side ; in others, pails, or even washing-trays, 

 are used. A salmon can be tailed — that is, tied up — 

 by means of a cord, a slip-knot being passed over 

 the tail. A male or female fish being secured,' obtain 

 one of the other sex as soon as possible. 



The requisites for spawning the fish properly are, 

 first, a shallow open tin dish, with a lip to it — for 

 salmon, this dish should not be less than twelve or 

 thirteen inches square at the least, for trout it may 



' I may add here, that it is always as, well, if they can be had 

 without dificulty, to retain two males to one ripe female in case of 

 a scarcity of milt. . 



