CHAPTER VI. 
COLLECTING THE EGGS. 
The old method as employed at Troutdale Hatchery—Ova hunting in Cumber- 
land— Work on a natural stream—The water ousel—Blank days—Honister Crag 
—Ulleswater—A dvantages of the present system—Spawning trout—Laving down 
the eggs—Embryology—Dry method of impregnation—Catching the spawners— 
Sorting—Cleanliness—Effects of temperature— Washing the eggs—Hermaphrodite 
Jish. 
[= is now rather more than a century since the re-discovery in 
Europe of the art of fecundating and hatching fish ova by 
artificial means, but for many years the matter was only under- 
stood very imperfectly by a few persons, and was looked upon as 
nothing more than an interesting scientific experiment. For a 
long time it was supposed that the gravelly bed of a stream was 
necessary for the successful hatching of the ova of Salmonide, 
and the earliest form of hatching apparatus consisted of nothing 
but boxes with perforated sides, through which the water could 
flow, and which were sunk in the stream, filled with gravel and 
ova, and in due course, in many cases, some of the ova hatched. 
Even when I commenced the propagation of trout in this country 
thirty years ago, little comparatively was known of the proper 
methods of dealing with the ova and the young fish which they 
produced. But now all this is changed, and the ova can be taken 
and properly impregnated, and more than that, they can be pro- 
perly incubated and hatched, and the delicate little beings known 
as “‘alevins” can be grown into large fish, as surely as the gardener 
can from his seeds produce a rich crop of flowers or vegetables, 
as the case may be. 
I well remember in my early days the keen enjoyment 
experienced in hunting the mountain streams for the various 
breeds of fish, destined to become the ultimate producers of a far 
