The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1885-07-10
MATCHING OUT SHAD.
. psetmeier, of the Flsh-Hawk, Preparing
=. - =. raa ca1a,s EislarY

art Peetmeter, OF tne isn""'
ap~ for Next Seasons Fishery.
..Ne are here in the interests OF the
~,;ted States fishing commission,
"a Cant. Peetmeier, OF the united
az an.os gunboat Fish-Hawk, now lying
anc6or off Gloucester. 1--WE are
.ah;no shad eggs. The process is a
~ one. Come this way and l will
NV Nv lad the way to the fore part of
onn deck, which was cleared Of
~ ;,,nIements of war for the reception
Ne of the most scientific machln-
81 neace. In the center of the
~ stood large copper tank, con-
water constantly changing
Bill he river, but capable OF being
on when at sea. On one side OF
tank stood twelve zinc cones,
q hout three feet in height, with the
.onical ends downward. A multiple
Z Nv of pipes, tubes, valves, and stop
ocks showed that the cones were In
Connection. =,
nj ..This is were we do the hatching,"
aid.Capt. Peetmeier. "These cones
ire Supplied with water from below
bv tubes from the tank. The supply
regulated by stop-cock at the top
md the surplus water escapes though
His zine network which surrounds
kbe top of each of the conical tanks.
THUS we have running water all the
Kline. If we are in q river we allow
The surplus to go overheard, but when
at sea, it being Impossible TO get the
fresh water necessary for Matching the
Eegos, we allow the water to run back
k.intS the main tank, and so it keeps on
drumming over and over again. When
SFthe seine up is drawn we take the fe-
male fish with roes and force them to
b discharge the ova by squeezing them.
kThen we take the males and by the
same process of squeezing force them
Ito impregnate the ova. The mass is
then counted, or rather measured, and
put into one of these cones and the
Ewater allowed to run"
ID l'How do you count the eggs; for L
3 Bee you have 100, 900 eggs in this cone.
81 at is done by measure; SO many
4 sggs to an ounce,-a fluid ounce. l
mean; say 10000. Well, there are
thirty-two fluid ounces to a quart,
4 therefore there must be within one or
TWO of 320, 900 eggs. We use an ordin-
ary graduated glass druggist quart
measure 1t takes from one to three
days for the eggs to hatch Then we
| keep the young fish two or three days
more and then consign them to their
1ati1e element. To put them in the
river requires considerable care We
gather them into a bucket then lower
he bucket into the water and allow
The little fellows to swim out
Now let me show you some
Of the eggs" He took piece of glass
tube and pushed it into one of the conf
cal tanks and, bringing it out, closed
sacf end with a finger. 1t was tull
If small transparent globular SUBJ
stances. all moving about IN the tube
md somewhat difficult to see at first.
"If you look carefully at them you
will see young fish inside. Most of |
hem are nearly ready to come out.
There are also some of the young fish |
globe hanging to each of them? That |
s the umbilical sac. The young fish
leeds upon that up to a certain age |
4 Ind finally absorbs it altogether. You |
may see the same thing attached to |
;he fish still in the eggs. Do you no
Isice how the eyes of the young fish are
sparkling. That is because they are
sick. They have no air in this tube"
"Do they feel the want of it so soon
IS that?''
80 yes. There, 1 will put them
back in their cone; perhaps they may
recover. The eggs, you observe, al
remain at the bottom of the tanks,
ucNess turn the water on hard. That
drives them to the top but it is not
good for them, for it matches them too
quickly. Since we have been on the
river, some weeks now, we Matched
several millions of eggs, which would
have been lost OF course vast num-
bar are Matched by the process of ma
ture IN the river. But these that we
have produced artifcially will go
long way toward stocking the fishery,
and would have been cooked and eaten
or otherwise destroyed if we had not
stepped in and saved them. We have
other tanks for Matching the eggs
smaller glass ones-but they are only
used when we are very busy. We
keep the water running through them
by an arrangement of siphons, all
leading to a large aquarium. l don't
know how long we will remain here,
but 1 suppose as long as we can OBJ
tain ova to work upon. ''-PhtladeLpltia
Times.