Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1874-12-25
TROUT CULTURE

Having previously given the different
methods of taking trout ova las far as my
experience goes) | will now describe the hatch
ing house and Matching trough, and show
how to curb up a spring. First pick up
say bushel Of coarse gravel, have it in a
basket where you can lay your hand on it
quickly; next obtain clean barrel with
one good head in it; bore several holes
within one foot of the end without the head,
on one side or in one stave. Now dig out
your spring deep down into the sand or grav.
ell, bail out the water with shovel, put your
barrel in with the open head down, give it
two or three hard turns to settle il well
be sure and have the side where the holes
are bored next to the bank, or where the wa.
ter comes out. Now turn in the basket Of
gravel around the holes and commence ON
the bank side and Gil in around the barrel
with clean sand or gravel, if convenient !;
fill high enough so that all surface water
will flow from the barrel. Now measure
say six inches above the lowest level, or
where you want your trough, bore a one-half
inch hole in the barrel this is sufficiently
large for a trough twelve feet long and fife IN
inches wide which will accommodate 10000
eggs or more. The trough should be made
OF white pine plank bottom. Two strips Of
flooring will make the sides, half an inch of
water over the eggs is sufficient, but the OBJ
ject in having the sides so high is to raise the
water after the trout are hatched until their
sac is absorbed and they begin to feed,
which will be in about four weeks To con.
tho Tor NTH tba trou,k horo holr
inch hole near the top of the trough, bend
nice piece Of tin and run it through the
trough and barrel. 1t is absolutely neces-
sary to have pure, clean water to hatch trout
eggs, as any sediment settling on them would
prove fatal. When they are buried in
brooks they are protected from sediment and
light. Covers must be fixed to the troughs,
as the eggs must be kept perfectly dark eX-
cept a few minutes each day, when they
must be examined, and the dead eggs picked
out. These can be easily detected as they
turn white as soon as dead If not taken
away they will have a tendency to foul the
water. was compelled to adopt this meth
cd Of curbing up spring last winter for
some parties Of this place, from pure necessi-
ty, and they say necessity is the mother of
invention. The spring was badly exposed
to children, ducks, &c, and finally adopted
the tight top.barrel plan and planted 1000
eggs in a six feet trough as an experiment,
warranting every egg to hatch, at $40 per
1000, otherwise | should only charge 81. .
| did all the work in half day, putting in
one new flannel strainer which never had to
be changed at all, as the water was perfectly
clean.
only examined them twice in two weeks.
All were hatched but thirty-nine. This may
seem TO be good deal of trouble, but not so
as soon as you know how it is DONE 1t is
not necessary that house should be built if
water that does not freeze is used. Still it
is much more comfortable to have one, espe-
cially in cold, stormy weather. 1t is best to
have everything ready before planting the
eggs, as no pounding or jarring the troughs
atterward will answer.
The bottoms of the troughs should be COW
cred with coarse sand or fine gravel not larger
than trout eggs or june peas, Some use
slate and glass; anything to keep the eggs
off the board, which will gather slime. A
twelve.foot trough should have one inch fall
lengthwise. The eggs are spread evenly SO
as not to touch each other more than posi-.
Bile. If the eggs move with the current, cut
strips of lath, and put in eighteen inches
apart, to break the current. Put in a fine
wire-cloth straner in the lower end, to keep
the young trout from leaving; but put in
break below to keep the trout from being
drawn against the screen by the current.
Eggs within few days of Matching will do
well enough simply buried in streams in sand
or gravel,-A, J. Hinds, in NelO York
Times.