The Bad Lands cow boy. [volume] (Little Missouri, Dakota [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-1886, 1885-07-30
HAgcH1Na ouT sHAp,,

Il HATcHIks OUT sHAD.
Capt Peetmeie " ths Fish, Hawk, Preparing
81 III for Next seas0n's Fishery. i: IA
h ssWe are here inS The interests of the
limited States fishing commission, y
Esaids Capt. PeetMeier, Of the United
States gunboat Fish Hawk, now living
at anchor off Glouc s..We are
matching shad eggs. The process Is a
simple ono. Come this way and I will
show you. -. -
He led the way to the fore part Of
the gun deck, which was cleared; OF
all implements Of war for the reception
Of soma Of the most scieHtffic ..mach1n=-
cry Of peace. In / the center Of tie
deck stood a8large5 "copper" tank, CON.
tanning water constantly changing
from the river, but capableSot being
stopped when at sea. On one side Of
this tank stood. twelve zinc cones,
about three feet in height, with the
conical ends downward, "A; multiple
ity of pipes, tubes, valves, and Stop
cocks showed that the. cones were ia Ia,
connection. : fs3 Mi re-
"This is were we dc, the ,hatching,''''l5
said Capt. Peetmeier.9 sH.sThese cones
are supplied with water from below
by tubes from the. tank. The supply
is regulated by q stop-cock Jat,the top,
and the surplus water escapes though
this zinc network which surrounds.
the top of each of the iconical tanks.
Thus we have running water all the
time. If we are id d 1riverAs we allow
the surplus to 60 overheard, but when
at sea, it being impossible to get tho
fresh water necessary for. Matching tho
eggs. we allow the water to run back
into the main tank, and so t,keeps on
trimming over and over again. When
the seine up Is drawn We !, AXE the fe-l
male fish with roes and force them. to
discharge tlig oval by squeezing them
Then we take the males and sbyst6s
same pTocessiof squeezing force them
to impregnate lthef pva.. ITheis mass,is,
then counted, Or rather III asufed, ard.
put into one of these cones and the
water allowed to run. II II /; IL 15''7 a.
How do You count the eggs; for !
see,you have l6o, 900 oggs in this cone
'lt is done by measure; 30 many
Feggs to an ounce,-a fluid ounce
mean;ts say 10, 000.] Well. 15there are
thirty-two fluid ounces to d. quart,
therefore there must be, within one or.
twosof 500 200 eggs. WE tlsd an bbirdfn-i
arv gradhhted sglass druggist quart
measure. It takes: from one to three
days for, heteggstt shatclG A IEhpn we
keep tho young fish two or three DAYS
more and then cQnsign them to their
native element. To put them In the
river requires considerable care. We
gather them into a bucket then lower
the bucket into the water and allow
the little fellows i TOT n swim ;Sout.
Now let mo show syou & some
of the eggs He took piece Of glass
tube and pushsdit intobhh Of the5con1-
cal tanks and, bringing it out, closed
each end with % h1gef. 1T jwas tnll
Of small Transparent globilar. Sub.
stances. oil moving iaboht in The tube
and somewhat difficult to see at first.
'If you look carefully at tnom you
will see young fish inside. Most of
them are NEARLY ready to come out
in, this tabs. 1 DO 155u ESaa ! THAT chat tin s.
globe hanging to each Of themp That
feeds upon thaS 'apg e 6 :Usftain a aoe
and finally absorbs it altogether. You
may see the! same thing & attached to
1.-The fish still in the eggs. Do You no. no.
tice how the eyes Of tho young fish arc
sparkling Int lis because PSthey are
sick. They have no air ii This tGbe.''
'.DoS they feel the want Of It SO. soon
as thatp" III q & 4 +
Yes. There, 4 i VIII Putt themlS
back il their eli conc; perhaps they may
recover. The eggs, you observe, al
remain at the bottom of the tanks,
unless I turn the wa ter on bard. That,
drives them to tie top but itii is not
\ good for them, for it matches them too
quickly. Since we have been On the
river, some weeks now, VIC Matched
several mil ions Of eggs, WllicI1would
have been lost. OF course d vast num-
Dor are hatched BY tho process of ma
:ture in tie river. But these tliat rs
have produced artificially will 90 a
long way: toward stocking the fishery,
and would have been cooked Ind eaten
or otherwise destroyed il we had not
stepped in and saved them. \. We hayt,-
othcr tanks for Matching tllessSSs-
smaller glass ones-but they're only
used when we! greS very busy. + We
keep the WATER running through thoml
by an arrangement 1 Of siphons, all
leading to large aquarium. don't
know how long Wbiwili remainbhers,
but l suppose as long as ave eans OBJ.
tain ova to work upon. hsladelp isiia
Times. s.s .53