2196 Fishes. 



taken in the latter, the flesh is weedy, thin of flake, and wanting in fat, and is of 

 course greatly affected by the large size of the roe or milt. Mr. Young, of Sutherland- 

 shire, writing on this subject lately in a weekly publication, says, that ' each salmon, 

 upon his second return to his native stream, will weigh from nine to sixteen pounds 

 weight, at which period,' he says, ' the fish can be only two years old.' What may we 

 not hope from this circumstance, if we resort to the artificial protective principle I am 

 advocating ? " — p. 21 . 



****** 



" I will now recall the attention of my readers to the plan which I propose for in- 

 creasing the food of man, by restoring the stock in rivers. To second the artificial 

 spawning principle, I propose that no pots or traps shall be permitted in the salt or 

 brack water, so that salmon in their migrations may descend their native streams un- 

 molested ; and that where weirs are positively required, they should be made upon the 

 principle previously described, so as to be easily surmounted. 



" Artificial spawning for salmon is extremely simple : all that is required is, to ob- 

 tain as many female fish, or spawners, as are deemed sufficient to produce spawn 

 enough to restock the river. One male, or milter, is able to impart the germinating 

 principle to the eggs of a dozen full-grown females. The principal point to be at- 

 tended to is, to take the female at the right time, and this is when she is working high 

 up stream ; for though some females return nearly ready to spawn, the greater number 

 make for the springs some time before they are full-gone and ripe for parturition. 

 You may easily know when a fish is full up and in condition to have her eggs taken 

 from her, by looking out for the redness and protrusion of the vent ; and this must be 

 particularly attended to, or the mother may be destroyed in the operation. 



" To spawn artificially, first, a clear, clean, unadulterated spring must be found, 

 at a temperature of 54° to 56°, which can be so hemmed back as to form a good fall 

 of water : then the boxes, of any size, according to the amount of fish required, must 

 be placed one by another, and so arranged that the water shall pass from one to the 

 other ; for, as each box receives its spawn in succession regularly, it is essentially ne- 

 cessary that the flow of water shall be at the command of the operator. The boxes 

 must be made water-tight, with lids to all ; and the first box should be placed one or 

 two inches higher than the second, so that the flow shall fall into each box in regular 

 succession, and form an artificial ripple, by which the egg is affected on the artificial 

 hill in exactly the same way as on its natural one. On sunny days it is advisable to 

 open the lids, and let the rays of light pass to them ; for though the egg is buried in 

 the shingle, it is not at such a depth but that light affects it, and that sensibly. The 

 use of lids to the spawn-boxes is to prevent water-fowl and herons from peculation, 

 and keep the prying curiosity of individuals from disturbing the eggs, which is pretty 

 sure to end in their becoming addled. The boxes being water-tight, the size I recom- 

 mend should be about four feet long to from twelve to eighteen inches broad and nine 

 inches deep. You then charge them with shingle, or very coarse, well-washed gravel, 

 divested of all sand, to about six inches deep, which will leave a flow of water over the 

 shingle of about two inches. The end of each box falling into the succeeding one 

 must have an aperture left for the water, which, with the help of a small flange, is shot 

 into the next, on the principle of a weir, so that the end of each box would be but 

 eight inches deep ; and by these means box after box will be filled with succession 

 Bpawn, according to the take of the fish as they ascend for spawning. 



" The small fish are the first to spawn, the larger ascend later; but it is always 



