The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1892-07-07

minimum. The spawn frames are cover
ed with coarse netting, each mesh OF
which is wide enough to furnish secure
resting place for one egg and prevent i
from touching other eggs, necessary pre-
caution in the propagation of trout.
A novice in the trout breeding business
would be forced to buy his eggs from :
Government hatchery or some other es-
tablished place like that of Mr.. Gilbert
who is not obliged to take that trouble,
for his trout now give him enough spawn
and to spare. Besides Matching more
than 600, 900 eggs this spring for his OWL
use he has sold 800 600 eggs.
The trout having finished their spawn
ing by the middle of December in another
month, by artificial feeding. can be made
as plump as the finest wild trout even
caught-and that without impairing THEN
flavor. Under the present law the trout
have three and IA half months in which to
recuperate, In the spawning period they
become quite thin, and in their wild
state. handicapped by the absence of their
natural food in the winter they require
more time in which to grow tat than is
the case Aith artifically fed trout.
Mr.. Gilbert keeps his spawn fish in a
pond by themselves. At the proper time
he dlags the pond with big seine and
| pockets all the fish in one corner. Then
/ he and his assistants scoop them up. one
at A time, strip them OF their spawn and
milt. without iniuring the fish, and then
/ return them to the wateI-the whole op-
Grafton taking less than ii minute. Trout
! begin to spawn when two Years old. and
keep it up indefinitely, the average yield
OF spawn being l. 600 eggs to the pound of
fish. The spawn of the female is mixed
in a large dish with the milt of the male,
and the eggs thoroughly cleansed, are
| placed on the screens above described
| Then the screens are suspended in the
hatchways. and the first essential step has
been taken in the artificial propagation of
| trout.
If the fish We're left to themselves in
their wild state the female trout and her
mate would scoop out a NEST in the
pebbly bottom of the stream and deposit
| the spawn therein. e.. some of it would
lodge there. small proportion of the
eggs would hatch in due course of time,
and such of the fry as escaped the canni-
balistic attacks of the older fish might fur
nish sport for some fisherman in the
course of a couple of years. Young trout
in brook have to hustle if there any old
'clumudgeons' around. Full grown
trout like nothing better than mouthful
of spawn OF young trout, and are always
on the hunt for eggs during the spawning
season. which accounts in a measure for the
small number of trout in the brooks in
proportion to the number OF eggs prodllc-
ed each year. In the artificial cultivation
OF trout fully % per cent. of the eggs are
hatched.
The hatchways in which the screens of
eggs are poised are kept covered during
the incnhating period in order that the
| purity OF the water may he maintained.
Every lew days the eggs are examined, and
if any appear to be dead they are remov-
Ell. a healthy EGG IN its natural cond-
ton is of delicate pinkish hue. At the
end of 30 days the eyes of the Young fish
can be seen through the shell and at the
end OF 80 days the voungster breaks his
shell and drops through the meshes of
the screen to the sandy bottom Of the
| hatcbWay, For two months the Young
trout live ON the remnant of the eggs.
which remains attached to their bellies.
! They do not swim. They wiegle their
| tiny tails and bob their heads about in a
| lively manner, but the egg anchors them
t. the bottom In this state they do moth
! Inc but exist, growing stronger every day,
of course. In two months they are able
to swim and then are fed on haddock
spawn. which comes along in lust the
right season Of the year 1t is fun to
watch the little fellows during the period
! just before they shed the remnant OF the
EGG. which has been their only larler dur
ing the two months of their existence
| They are desperately anxious to move
but they don't know exactly how to
handle themselves. With a swish OF their
tails they manage to propel themselves
few inches from the bottom. but they
! don know how to use their steering ap-
paratus, and as a result. are continually
! cullidin9 with one another, on with the
sides oi the hatchwav. But they keep at
ii, until they acquire the science of motion.
and soon are as graceful in their move
ment> as any fish in fresh on salt water.
When the egg is So far developed that
the eyes can be seen it is in the proper
condition for shipment. Then it can be
taken from the water packed III cotton
batten frames. covered with damp moss
and again packed in ice, SO that an even
temperature OF b degrees may be MAIN
tanned, and when thus prepared. can be
/ shipped all over the world guaranteed to
arrive in good condition. BY this method
the development OF the egg can be stop
ped for fully six weeks without injury to
the fry. Having reached their destination,
| the eggs are again submerged in running
water of a temperature ranging from is
to 80 degrees, and the process of develop
ment continues as if there had been no in
tewuption. 1t is a peculiarly of a trout
egg that while it will live thirty days in
damp moss, it will die within thirty hours
if placed in still water.
After the fry have lived a month on had
dock spawn, they are fed on chopped
liver. Mr.. Gilbert trout consume about
l. 800 pounds of Sleeps livers week. At
ter they are old enough to swim freely
the young trout are turned into one of the
many small ponds into which the farm
has been divided, long and narrow shoots,
so arranged that each one can be shut off
from the main system whenever it is de-
sired. OF course the young trout are not
allowed to mingle with the old ones. for
such proceeding, however satisfactory to
the old trout, would be disastrous to the
youngsters. Each year brood, OF school,
is kept by itself until the fish are three
years old, by which time they are able to
! take care of themselves.
| When the open season comes there is
i the liveliest kind of hustling around the
trout ponds. Mr.. Gilbert's trout are
served in the SWEETEST dinners in New
York Boston and Newport. He ships
thousands upon thousands of young trout
| 10,