practical papers—Fish Culture. 
39 7 
For instance, the owner of a trout-stream may wish to collect 
trout-eggs during the season, but may not have leisure to attend 
to it more than once a week, or may not be able to obtain the 
necessary assistance. In such a case one of the Ainsworth races 
fixed at or near the head of the stream would collect eggs, 
and keep them in good order for a week or more at a time. 
Transportation of eggs .— Great improvements have bren made 
in the transportation of eggs. The method is the same which 
Mr. Green used long ago. Eggs to be packed in tin boxes about 
three inches by two and one-half, holding one thousand each, for 
convenience in counting, unpacking, and arranging. Moss to be 
used for packing material as being on the the whole the most 
reliable. Only the softest moss is used, cut into half-inch fibers, 
and well washed before packing. Saw-dust to be used (for pack¬ 
ing the tin boxes) in larger or smaller quantities according to the 
distance to which the eggs are to be sent, and the temperature to 
which they are to be exposed. Greater care is now used in pack¬ 
ing the eggs in the moss, and for long journeys the tins are sur¬ 
rounded by a double wall of saw dust or straw. Thus packed, 
the eggs stand everything but great extremes of temperature or 
handling. But the greatest improvement made in transportation 
is in the fact of not sending the eggs until they are within three 
or four weeks of hatching. The older the egg the more rough 
usage it will bear with impunity. Eggs sent within four weeks 
of hatching generally arrive in good order, unless the tempera¬ 
ture has been unexpectedly high or low, or they have been sub¬ 
jected to violent blows by careless handling. 
Hatching eggs .— In regard to the apparatus in which eggs should 
be put to hatch, opinions are still at variance. Some fish-breeders 
prefer the Coste trays ; some use the stone-charcoal trough, and 
some batch on slate beds ; while we still give the preference to the 
old gravel troughs as being on the whole the handiest, least 
expensive, and best. Perhaps it may be of service to give the 
test we used in experimenting with the different sorts of hatching 
arrangements. It is well known that an egg not impregnated will 
not die at once if placed with the others, but will last a longer or 
shorter time ; sometimes remaining of a natural color until after 
