186 How to obtain tt. 
There are other ways of manipulating them, and I suppose 
that at every hatchery the plan will vary somewhat, but, after 
trying many other methods, I have found the one described to be 
the best and simplest. Two thousand eggs are placed on a layer 
very often, and in this way forty thousand eggs occupy the same 
space as a much smaller number would, thus saving labour and 
freight to ourselves, and a lot of trouble and half freight on 
empties to the receivers. I have carefully tried many experiments 
with ova in order to ascertain the necessary conditions for con- 
veying with safety the largest number of eggs in a given space of 
reasonable dimensions. 
A great deal more depends upon the packing, the temperature, 
the supply of oxygen, and the preparation of the moss than most 
people suppose. To begin with, then, let us consider the moss 
itself. I tried a good many kinds of moss, and there are several 
kinds that under proper cultivation may readily be made to answer 
all the purposes required. But to gather mosses indiscriminately, 
taking any likely-looking stuff that comes to hand first, is not the 
way to promote the safety of the eggs. Many mosses grown in 
woods are unsuitable, from the fact of their being so much of 
foreign admixture among them in the shape of minute bits of 
stick, rotten leaves, roots, (some of which may be highly poisonous) 
and other matter. Those found in very wet places often grow so 
luxuriantly that the lower parts decay, and are on that account not 
good for packing ova. I have found some sphagnum beds to be 
full of animal life, and others again containing Saproleguia, or fish 
fungus. In a large establishment, where everything has to be 
systematized, the moss is felted, and as only some kinds can be 
readily manufactured into felts, the moss question becomes a very 
serious one. So much is used at the Solway Fishery that it has 
become needful to grow it, and this is an excellent way over the 
difficulty, as it can be gathered clean and fresh, there being only 
one year’s growth to deal with. After it is gathered the ground is 
replanted, and although no manure is applied, and the same crop 
is taken off it each season, yet after several years the soil seems to 
be in no way impoverished. The only change that has been 
observed is that each succeeding season a finer and richer crop of 
moss is produced. 
