128 How to obtain tt. 
other buildings which are used as accessories having an additional 
supply. 
By way of caution to beginners I would say that concrete 
should in all cases be very well seasoned by use, before allowing 
the water passing over it to be used in the hatchery. All work is 
done at the Solway Fishery, as far as possible, a season in advance, 
or in early summer, and by allowing the water to run for a few 
months, everything is rendered perfectly safe. I have seen places 
where the work has only been finished the day before the eggs 
have been laid down, and where the water supply has actually had 
to be cut off afterwards in order to rectify little matters that had 
been overlooked. These are the sort of places that bring 
discredit upon fish culture. A fish hatchery and everything about 
it should be clean and sweet as a dairy, and should be kept so, 
and on this largely depends its success or failure. Good 
ventilation is essential, just as it is in a house for growing plants. 
Too much light should be avoided, and especially large windows 
facing the south, which would let in the glare of the noon-day sun. 
It does not matter much how the place is lighted, if attention be 
paid to these points. It may be by sky-lights or by side windows. 
I commenced work thirty years ago in a conservatory, which is 
now about the last place I would choose for the purpose, but yet 
I got on very well. 
The floor of the hatchery should be of concrete, or of stone, 
or suitable pavement of some kind. Whatever material is used, 
take care that it is rat-proof. The level is also a matter for con- 
sideration. Some fish culturists advocate dry floors, the waste 
water being carried off in pipes, and drained away underneath. 
‘This may be all very nice, but in a working hatchery it does not 
answer very well. There is no harm in having the floor wet, if 
the house be properly ventilated, and as water must often be 
spilled or even emptied upon it, it is, for several reasons, better to 
have open gutters under the hatching boxes than drains laid 
underneath the floor. -There are two great objections to such 
drains. One is, that if anything should happen, and they have to 
be examined, it necessitates the pulling up of the floor, and should 
anything go wrong in the middle of a hatching season it might be 
a very awkward matter ; another is that drains are apt to encourage 
