The Portland daily press., 1896-07-04

the glass jars into which long glass
tube extends almost to the bottom and
the water Is siphoned off by shorter
tube at the top. The water when Hows
down the long tube as shown in the &C.
companying figure keeps the eggs In gen
tie motion without causing them to be
Jared or to come into conrac6 with the
sides Of the vessel The current must be
perfectly regulated in order so prevent
the eggs from being carried OH with the
escaping current In this way the tiny
globules are carried to the top of the
dish by the gentle current, then they fell
again slowly towards the bottom. When
part way down they are caught in an
other little eddy and carried to the top
again and thus the work Of Matching goes
on.
The water which runs Ethrough these
jars is pumped from the bay into big
tanks on deck. From these il is carried
to the jars in large iron pipe and then
escapes overheard again when Its work
is completed.
1t takes from three to five days to hatch
the eggs. First there appears within the
egg itself two tiny black specks, then the
nervous system Of the fish develops, soon
the pulpy shell is broken and the tiny
fish begins to swim around in the water.
This is called a fry and is then siphoned
| off into another jar and Is ready to be
released and started off on their voyage
| o 1,fo O,,1x or1o OF ,f ~
eggs fail to hatch. much greater pro-
portion than are Matched naturally. Tt
is presumed that 70 per cent of the fry
live to complete tlsh-hood or to become
fullFgrown fish. So far about 10. 600, 600
eggs have been Matched and considering
the fact that the work is mainly expert
mental 1t is proving very successful,
| The other two methods Of hatrhing arc,
as has been sal d, nearly similar. One of
these is called the Mcdonald system and
the eggs are placed in the bottom of
boxes on which is stretched cheese cloth
on which the eggs are placed. The
water, by means of siphons, rises and
falls automatically as the tide ana thus
the water is constantly changed. By the
third system the eggs are placed in jars
which are inverted in an automatic box
in which the water rises and falls as in
the Mcdonald system. This system Capt.
Swift thinks will prove the most sue.
cessful for mackerel hatohing.o of al those
now in use.
While the Matching Is going on relays
of men watch the process day and night
seeing that the bad eggs are siphoned off,
that the water supply is just right and
doing the thousand and one things neces-
sary to insure success.
On the temperature of the water de-
ponds largely the success of the Matching.
On the Fish Hawk tho water is al
ways at temperature of from 55 degrees
to 60 degrees hut no artificial means of
regulating the temperature is used.
The fishermen at first were not disposed
to help the" Fish Hawk in her work
but now they are enthusiastic assistants
and do all they can to aid the spawn
takers" Capt. Swift intends to release
the mackerel fry about three or four
miles off Half Way rock and there is little
doubt but that the Matching process will
aid materiallysin increasing the mackerel
supply. The lobster eggs are obtained
from the lobster catchers and the Fish
Commission pays them for the eggs they
obtain. The hstching process is almost
similar to that of mackerel Matching al
though the per centage of loss Of lobster
eggs is very much smaller than that Of
any other fish. It takes from "a hours
to two days to hatch the lobster eggs.
They are larger than the mackerel spawn
and female lobster 10 inches long will
give up about 1900 eggs. The eggs
have no water bags attached to them and
sink to the bottom as soon rs they are
placed in the jars. The fry as soon as
Matched elaborated as near an possible
where the spawn are obtained in order to
distribute the Holsters about as evenly as
, possible.
The lobster Matching in the vicinity OF
, Woods Hole has been very successful and
in two years the number O t Holsters has
increased wonderfully, SO the lobster
catchers report. 1t is hoped that the
same result will be obtained here. 1T il
very possible that the United States Fish
Commission will establish q permanent
, Matching station in Casoo bay If the pres
ent work Is deemed successful. Tbs Fish
Hawk will remain, atOrr's island sometime
and the officers who are very courteous
, gentlemen, are always willing to show
visitors about the vessel and explain the
workings OF the hatcheries. The steamer
| can be reached by the Harpswell Bay
, Line steamers which sail often during
the day from Portland pier.