Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-12-05

of a temperature not to exceed 46
degrees Fahrenheit. At the old
hatchery, nine miles from Springer
VILE, water from the south branch
of the Little Colorado river is used,
but it has to be cooled with ice.
At the new hatchery, II miles west
of Springerville, spring water of the
desired temperature is obtained III
sufficient quantities to supply all
the troughs in the building.
when an egg becomes eyed" it
isn't long before the future adversary
of the rod and reel sportsman begins
to come to life An "eyed" egg is
one which bears a tiny black dot,
surrounded by yellow circle. Some
eggs in the last batch bought by
the state were eyed when they
arrived and they began to hatch
within three days after they were
planted in the troughs, which are
about a foot deep and foot wide
and capable of accommodating some
40 or SO thousand eggs.
The actual Matching of an egg is
somewhat lengthy process. The
baby fish doesn't break its she'll, wag
it's tail and start looking for barbed
fly AS a matter of fact, the egg
isn't an egg in the ordinary sense.
The soft substance which constitutes
the shell is the food on which the
Matching fish lives while en- route
For several days the baby trout
lives off this jelly-like substance,
meanwhile slowly assuming the con-
:ventional form of its parents. Once
it has consumed the food Mother
Nature provided for it, the trout
starts living on raw, pulverized beef
heart, dropped into the trough by
hatchery attendants every three or
four hours
For a couple of months the trout
lives in the trough, growing from a
sixty fourth of an inch to two or
more inches in length. If the time is
ripe, he is put then into 1O-gallon
can with 1000 or 1,5OO of his brothers
and sisters and shipped by truck to
1.-THE stream he is destined to help
stock. If the time isn't appropriate,
he is turned into the nursery tank
outside the hatchery building and
allowed to grow a while longer before
being shipped away.
The truck on which the baby trout
Eare transported to the 800 miles of
hstreams in the White mountains and
those in Yavapai and Coconino coun
! ties seldom is allowed to stop be-
tacause the cans containing the fish
require constant agitation to insure
them supply of fresh air. Without
fresh air and clean water the baby
trout dies in few minutes.
For that reason the old hatchery
I can be operated only in the spr.nS
| of the year. Water from the Little
| Colorado at other seasons is too
| muddy for the troughs. The new
hatchery, however, can be operated
/ the year round because it is fed
with spring water. Mr.. Greer relates
that the water at the old hatchery
was last spring cooled with ice
chopped from nearby lakes during
the winter and stored for the purpose
/ At one time the hatchery was using
300 pounds of ice day to keep th%
/ baby fish alive.
4 All the known trout streams ir
the northern part of the state viii
be well stocked in another year, il
i the opinion of Mr.. Greer. He says
4 known" preferably, he adds, because
i the state fish and game department
\ has yet to discover many stream:
adapted to the planting of trout
i The trout which will be planted mex
j year will be nine inches long 1.
months after they are dropped int
the various streams.
The department is planning tenta
lively on establishing a bass hatcher!
! in Pagago national park, near Tempe
if the city of Phoenix takes over tn
II park from the national park service
d The latter has refused to allow th