PROPAGATION OF STURGEON IN GERMANY. 
83 
gladly undertake the new charge. Mr. Mohr in Gliickstadt had assisted in the simi- 
lar experiments of 1884, and promised to take part in those now proposed. Besides 
the above Mr. Soth, a fisherman of Tielenhemme, was commissioned to superintend 
a sturgeon hatchery on the Eiver Eider. All of these persons displayed greatactivity 
in tlieir work. Several lots of eggs were fertilized at different times, but, unfor- 
tunately, not with successful results, as it was only on rare occasions that mature 
spawners and milters could be obtained at the same time; and if a ripe male was se- 
cured from the nearest fishing station, the female frequently died in the mean time. 
Mr. Lau at Kollmar alone succeeded in hatching a comparatively small number of 
sturgeon, which developed in healthy condition, and w'ere planted in the Eiver Elbe. 
It will be claimed by some, perhaps, that the same methods could be pursued with 
the sturgeon as with the salmon, viz, to catch the males and females, and hold them 
until the spawning season. This has been attempted but without favorable result. 
We had a large box made and placed in the harbor of Gliickstadt, -at the mouth of the 
river Eiehn, and put sturgeon in it, with the view of keeping them until the spawning 
season. But the sturgeon would live in this box only a comparatively short time. 
This may result from the fact that the hatching season of the sturgeon is in warm 
weather, chiefly during the month of July, when the temperature of the water is about 
17° Eeaumur. The large fish also become injured in the box. Not only did we attempt 
to keep sturgeon in this way, but we also tried to confine them alive in a pond near 
Gliickstadt, through which fresh water from the Elbe flows at every tide. Even in 
this pond, however, the sturgeon died after a few days. 
As far as I have been able to observe, the greatest difficulty in the way of sturgeon 
culture results from the fact that the spawners, when mature, emir the eggs within a 
very short space of time. When a mature spawner has been caught, the roe com- 
mences to run as soon as the fishermen lift the fish into the boat, and it continues to 
flow while it is being conveyed to the station where its fertilization is to be effect'd. 
In case the fishermen tie up the ovarian duct so that the roe can not escape before the 
fish reaches the hatching station, the impregnation of the eggs can be accomplished 
successfully, providing a good milter is on hand. If, however, this is not the case, 
and the spawner has to lie for ten hours before a milter is obtained from the nearest 
fishing station, the roe inside the fish becomes so soft that many of the eggs break 
during the process of impregnation. If a mature fish is thus compelled to retain the 
roe for any length of time, the eggs become quite transparent, and fall to pieces 
when touched. 
During the present year (1886) the attendants at Gliickstadt have succeeded five 
times, and Mr. Lau, at Kollmar, twice, in hatching sturgeon. Considering the failures 
of former years, these results must be regarded as exceedingly favorable, but we are 
still far from having reached a point where we can say that the greatest difflculties 
in sturgeon hatching have now been overcome. There is, as yet, no absolute certainty 
about the matter, and a great deal depends upon contingencies. 
If sturgeon culture is to be made of economical importance, it is absolutely neces- 
sary that we should produce several million young every year. By the occasional 
hatching of a few thousand sturgeon only we can not say that we materially aid in the 
increase of the abundance of the species. This has been my^ view of the case for some 
time, and it was confirmed when I visited Gliickstadt in July, in order to plant in the 
river Elbe the sturgeon that had been hatched at that station. Some exi)erimeuts 
