The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1886-03-06
COLUMN.
The Advantages Of Fish Culture.

The fish culturist selects the ripe fish
which are about to cast their spawn,
and by handling them very carefully,
extracts to spawn from the female and
WHITES it by placing 1t in contact with
the living germs from the male fish.
This, if done correctly, and the parent
fish are in the proper condition, should
vitalize from ninety to one hundred per
cent of the eggs taken.
After the spawn has been taken and
vitalized 1t is allowed to stand in the
pans for a certain length Of time, usually
from twenty to thirty minutes; the eggs
are then rinsed off and are placed in the
Matching troughs or other Matching
apparatus. Here they are allowed to
| remain until they hatch, which, as l
| explained in my previous article, varies
in length of time with different varieties
of fish, some requiring a longer and
some a shorter period. When the eggs
are in the Matching apparatus, they are
directly under the fish culturist's eve,
and he watches over them daily with
almost as much care as a mother does
her child, to see that they are receiving
the proper circulation which they must
have In order to hatch, and although
precautions are taken to exclude their
enemies, they are liable to get among
the spawn and destroy the eggs. In my
early experience noticed the eggs dying
in certain parts of my Matching troughs,
ana also observed that some were miss
ing. | was not long in discovering that
rats were the cause of the trouble, and
few steel traps judiciously set, soon
disposed Of them. l mention this to
show that enemies which we would least
suspect, have to be discovered and
guarded against. On one occasion l
took the shells of three hundred eggs
from the stomach Of one rat While
the eggs are in the process of Matching,
they must be looked over and examined
every day, and ii any deal ones are dis
covered they must be Immediately re
moved, for the reason that after an egg
has been dead for hort time fungus
growth begins TO encirclc It the fcathery
arms of which reach out from it, and
| coming in contact with the living eggs,
deal death among them. Unless re-
moved in time, one dead egg would he
hn 1f ,lg #
others. 1t must therefore be taken out
before it has had time 10 develop this
fungus growth.
When The spawn has laid in the hatch
ing apparatus the proper time for the
| eggs to hatch, the little fish which is
plainly seen wiggiing in the egg some
time before it hatches, breaks through
the shell, straightens out, and is fish.
| They are then, in the case of most vari-
cites of young fry, very helpless, the
| large yolk sac which is attached to then
bodies renders locOmotion difficult, ana
unless protected. they would fall an easy
prey to their enemies. The fish cultui-
ist looks after them until they are
relieved of this eucumbrance, or nearly
so, and then they are in condition tC
strike out for themselves and fight tho
battle of life. True, many are liable to
be destroyed even at this period. TIL,
same rule follows with fish as in human
nature The big fish eat the little ones.
But they have had big lift on their
journey in having been protectedthrough
their most helpless and exposed period.
SETH GREEN in an. AgricWltUiSt.