Daily Yellowstone journal., 1886-08-08
FISH-HATCHING.
a visit to Cold Spring Harbor. P.onE
Island The Success and Advantages oi
Fish Culture.


Long Island. toward the harbor the
road winds down hill through dwarfed
forest. runs alongside whispering little
brook, and affords Glimpses here and
there of broad sheets OF placid water
~fringed bv tangled thickets. A mill Is
passed and several pretty residences,
Then, at sudden turn. beautiful view
opens out ~ the full width OF the val.
lsv. terminating In the harbor and the
Sound beyond Here is the New York
Slale Fish Hatchery, two little houses
from the open doors OF both houses
float continually aqueous sounds rip
pies gurgles. splashes. and dimInulIre
waterfalls. Looking inside one s""S zig
waterproof boots movin: about WIN iig
men in them. who do miraculous lngs
in the way of squeezing themselves
among long. black tronghs, through
which crystalline currents are constantly
coursing swiftly. In the face ul IL" hill.
Is roof covering Superintendent FIaGk
Mather's ocean. He pumps his ocean
up there and keeps II OH tap for the
Matching OF salt water fishes.
The Superintendent is notable man
sturdy. bushy-browed, with a hearty
voice. sparkling eyes, camping-out com.
plexion, and an air of just having arrived
from somewhere and being about Ia
start back in minute He courteuusly
opens the ample food.gates of his knowl,
ecga about fish and their systematized
production.
The man who knows anything about
fish that Is not already known Ia Mr..
Mather would be difficult to find, for lir
is not only quite familiar with all the
astounding polysyllabic names that seem
to grow in reversed proportion TO the
size uf the fish, but Is i:tirate with the
we irrs of the names. knows their
habits and where to iinu them.
IN answer to your correspondent. MIR.
Mathcr said "We have mere facilities
for ha'ching much fewer eggs than we
should have. The capacity OF the estab.
lishment should be doubled at least.
Tie practical usefulness OF this
method OF enlafging 0uI food supply has
now been demonstrated beyond question,
and il Is really a matter OF serious inter.
est to all the people OF the State that
this hatchery should be SO developed
a. 10 get the greatest possible good from
it, This is surely quite reasonable
There is no place in the land so well
adapted by nature as this Is for a hatch.
cry. We have an abundant neyeT-Iail.
ing supply OF cold fresh water sufficient
to keep our thirty-two Matching tr0Hshs
full all the year through. II We needed
them so. 1t comes from natural springs
in that hill. so surprisingly high up'thnt
II Is a constant wonder to me how those
springs are fed. The swift current that
its fall supplies Is just what we want in
certain stages OF the Matching processes
"Then by means OF pumping engine
we can have equally handy an ample sup.
ply OF pure salt water drawn at high
tide as required. and stored in that lesser
voir. Or. at least We can do so when
the intense cold does not freeze the
water solid in the pipes and burst them
az IL did last winter, spelling at Que ic!l
blow our most interesting and, up TO
that time. highly successful, hatching OF
some 2000.aO0 cod eggs"
At the side OF the lane are wood bound
milk cans--the reservoir In which myTailI
Of tiny fishes are sent away to stock
lakes. brooks, creeks, rivers. and bays OF
the State.
HArcHNG TROUT.
Nearly all the Matching is done in
Winter" said Mr.. Mather. Trout. in
which there is most popular interest.
begin spawning in November. and do
not get through until January. We get
eggs here from some large breeding
trout that We keep In those ponds out
-idt for the purpose. and also from the
ha cherry at Caledonia. from Maine. and
from Europe
The eggs having been impregnated.
chang. from the habby condition 10
which they are extruded by the female
fish, drtach themselves from the bottom
uf the pan In which they were gathered.
and grow larger and quite hard. Then
they are washed and spread upon wire
rnth Matching trays. the interstices in
whirh are large enough for the young
ily as hatched to drop through leaving
the shells on the tray.
Throughout the process OF Matching
whIch lakes from sixty to eighty days
according TO the temperature ~ the
water the eggs must be carefully tented
every day TO keep them free from sedi.
meat 10 have the temperature Of the
water as cold as possible and to leg
ulatr the current over them just right.
While Matching is going or the water
only covers the eggs To the depth OF an
inch but when the young Try have all
appeared its depth is increased TO Ave
iuches Each little trout, when ha' ched
tas an abdominal sack Of nntTiment.
larger than himself which he gradually
ah.urbs When its yellow bulk is all
gone and he looks like a small s"mi
Transparent pin not quite an inch lanc
he is Immediately hungry ani beg.Es
looking for food
That Is the time when he sEoIE! D.,
put out in a brook somewhere. 10 look
out for himself and where there will he
no suntish. pickerel, or other bigger ilsi.
To look out for him II takes him fcrty
or fifty days TO exhaust the magazine
OF provisions with which he comes into
the world
with good feeding at the end OF his
first year he should have grown to be
from four to FIVE inches In length Al
2 years OF age the trout should be seven
or eight inches long. and at 3 years
when his weight is from quarter to a
half pound he becomes an object OF In.
terest TO the scientific angler
Some female trout spawn when only
2 years old but their eggs are not mum
erous At 8 years one will yield from
400 to 800, and occasionally as high as
l,OO0 eggs II has been affirmed tina, a
trout will yield 1000 eggs to overy
pound OF Its weight, but my experience
does not warrant me in expecting any
thing like 30 much II we get 900
eggs from q two.pound or even . two
and half pound trout. We think We
are doing well.
I'VE have had here this season. or
have now. salmon-trout eggs young
trout fry, and eggs OF the German brown
trout.
DIFFERENT METHODS OF HAToHrNa.