313 
AMERICAN AQRIGULTURIST. 
[October, 
Fig. 1. —FEMALE TROUT, TWENTY MONTHS OLD .—Sketched and Engraved for the American AgricuUurUt. 
Breeding Trout and other Fish. 
Trout breeding is a subject which has been 
comparatively little discussed by the Agricultur¬ 
ist —partly for the reason that the editors have 
never been personally engaged in it, nor wit¬ 
nesses of any especial success attending it. The 
subject is, however, attracting attention of late, 
particularly on account of the wide circulation 
gained by some newspaper paragraphs concern¬ 
ing the success of a gentleman in the central 
part of the State of New York. This person 
Fig. 3.— TROUT JUST HATCHED. 
has a rival in the immediate vicinity of this 
city, whose success is very encouraging, and the 
foots we obtain from him are most important. 
Artificial Fish breeding has a history of only 
some 18 years, but within this time very inter¬ 
esting results have been accomplished. As an 
art it was introduced to the world of scientific 
utilitarians, so near perfection that few if any 
essential improvements have been made. The 
mature trout of both sexes 
are confined in ponds fed 
by springs. Shallow ditch¬ 
es with still pools and 
gravelly bottoms are iDro- 
vided. From the middle 
to the last of October, the 
male fish, adorned like a 
bridegroom in his most 
brilliant colors, jjrepares 
the gravelly nest for the 
eggs. He then coaxes the 
female upon it; and it is at 
the time that she begins to lay her eggs that she 
should be caught in a net, and her eggs very 
gently pressed from her into an earthen basin 
containing water. The fish is saved alive, and 
the male fish is proceeded with in the same 
manner. The “ milt” which flows from him is 
stirred, gently but thoroughly, among the eggs. 
These eggs, at first being of a dull orange color, 
rapidly change as soon as impregnated, becom¬ 
ing clearer and almost transparent. After this | 
the eggs are placed upon clean gravel in boxes 
in running water—if possible, in a brook or 
channel fed by living springs, and in which the 
water is entirely under control, and not liable to 
floods. This should be more or less shaded, 
and the boxes ought to be covered—for in the 
natural way trout cover their eggs with gravel. 
Nine to twelve weeks elapse before hatching. 
They then appear like the magnified sketch in 
figure 2, adjoining which are two small out¬ 
lines, showing the actual size of the egg and 
of the fish newly hatched. The mass attached 
to its belly is the yolk of the egg. This is en¬ 
cased in a bladder like sack, and furnishes the 
little fellow food for the first 30 days of his 
life. After this he begins to pick up animal¬ 
cules which abound in shallow water and in¬ 
crease in numbers greatly after the warm 
weather of spring comes on. This is in brief 
the process recommended by wTiters on thesub- 
j ect, and as nearly as we recollect that followed 
in some of the European fish-breeding places 
which we have visited. The gentleman whose 
suceess we have alluded to, does not attempt 
the artificial impregnation of the eggs, but pro¬ 
viding suitable breeding ditches fed by perpet¬ 
ual springs, he allows the fish to have their own 
way, make their nests, lay their eggs, impreg¬ 
nate them and cover with the usual gravel. 
The ditches are watched, unfriendly fish, 
beetles, eels, etc,, expelled and excluded as far 
Fig. 3. —MALE TROUT, SEVEN OR EIGHT MONTHS OLD. 
as possible, sediment of decaying leaves, etc., re¬ 
moved from the nests, if it washes on, and 
every effort made to keep the eggs undisturbed. 
The male trout, as the breeding season ap¬ 
proaches, not only puts on the most brilliant 
colors, but the projection upon his under jaw in¬ 
creases very mucli, becoming a real shovel, and 
with it he moves the sand and gravel about and 
scoops out his nest as he likes. This append¬ 
age makes it very easy for the males to do great 
damage in rooting out the eggs from the nests. 
Our friend has found young males especially 
injurious in this way. They should therefore 
be rigidly excluded from the breeding ditches. 
The eggs are usually deposited, as already stated, 
after the 20th of October, and begin to hatch in 
January, the majority hatching in 9 to 12 weeks. 
The breeding ditches have certain pools or ex¬ 
pansions in them where the water is very shal¬ 
low. Into these the young fish soon find their 
way, and by the time they have absorbed their 
aldermanic bass drummer-like paunches, they 
may be seen very actively pursuing the animal¬ 
cules which breed in such places. For this 
reason shallow basins in their breeding ditches 
oi' brooks are quite essential to success. Where 
the young fry are numerous, regular feeding 
should begin in March. Bullocks blood in small 
quantities has been successfully used. Lean 
scrap beef or mutton, thoroughly boiled to re¬ 
move the grease, and then mashed veiy fine, 
has been used, and any kind of fresh meat 
would doubtless do as well. Such materials 
are everywhere attainable, but near the sea a 
great variety of food very well adapted to their 
wants may be found. Our friend uses for very, 
young fry, Horseshoe crabs full of spawn, mash¬ 
ing them up, Killy-fish, or any soft-finned fish, 
run through a meat cutter and made very fine, 
etc. Any fish roes, or flesh of fish is good. As 
the fish grow, they may have coarser feed, and 
they are extensively sup¬ 
plied with Killies, which 
are little salt water fish, 
abounding in the brack¬ 
ish water of the ditches in 
the salt meadows adjoining 
the fish ponds. They are 
scooped up and thrown 
into the ponds where they 
are soon taken in charge 
and disposed of by the 
active trout without dis¬ 
tinction of age or sex. 
When trout have plenty to eat they grow as¬ 
tonishingly fast. The fine picture at the head 
of these columns is of a female fish, taken 
from the pond above referred to; only 19 or 
20 months old, that is,—hatched a year .ago last 
winter, .as our friend asserts. The smaller fish, 
(fig. 8,) is a male, which came from the egg last 
winter, and is therefore about 7 or 8 months 
old. We shall continue this subject hereafter. 
