(J Natural fiatcfyerv; for Troat 



T 



HIS paper is written to describe a hatchery 



in which trout eggs are hatched by natural 



processes, although the fish are under re- 



'A straint, and the term natural hatchery is used in 



contradistinction to artificial hatchery in which trout 



eggs taken from the fish by hand are hatched on 



trays in troughs of running water and constantly 



watched by hatchery attendants. In a natural 



pg hatchery the trout are not handled by men 



during the spawning season ; and the eggs, 



after they are deposited naturally, and the fry 



^ after they are hatched, are unmolested as much 



ih as though the fish were wild fish spawning in 



wild walers, until such time as the fry are 



removed from the hatchery to the rearing 



ponds to be fed and grown to fingerlings or 



larger fish. In State work, where every year 



there is a greater demand for trout fry and 



fingerlings than the State can supply, every egg 



that can be obtained is utilized and every pos- 



THE END OF THE LEAPERS. ■> r 



sible effort is made to obtain eggs outside of 

 those furnished by fish in the stock ponds at the various hatcheries. Wild waters 

 are drawn upon, and a few private waters, controlled by individuals or associations, 

 furnish trout eggs to the State with the understanding that a certain per cent, of the 

 fry shall be returned to their waters, while the State has the balance for general distri- 

 bution. Under these circumstances a natural hatchery would not serve the purposes 

 of this Commission, for it is not pretended that in a natural hatchery economy is 

 practiced in the number of eggs obtained from the fish or the number of fry hatched 

 from the eggs. By law the Fisheries, Game and Forest Commission is forbidden to 

 plant fry or fish reared at the expense of the State in waters closed to public fishing, 

 and owners of private preserves, if they wish to add to their stock of fish, must buy 

 them or rear them. 



To erect a hatchery on the plan of a State hatchery, even though it be on a much 

 smaller scale, is expensive, and to spawn fish artificially, and care for the eggs and fry 



