Essays in Natural History and Agriculture — John Shaqi
Essays in Natural History and AgricultureGarnett, Thomas
Science
Essays in Natural History and Agriculture
Garnett, Thomas
Agriculture; Salmon; Zoology
The experiments of Shaw and Agassiz, my own also included, have
proved that fish can be bred artificially. The experiments of
Boccius I have not yet tried, although he proposes to arrive at
the same result in another manner, and acting in the manner
recommended by them, Trout and Salmon have been bred by thousands
during the last ten years.
As the season for making the experiment will shortly be here, I
hope that those who intend to try the plan will lose no time in
looking after their supply of breeding fish.
To begin with Trout:--Catch as many as you can conveniently obtain
upon the spawning beds, [6] and examine them carefully one by one,
to see that the spawn and milt are in a fit state for exclusion;
and also to enable you to separate the males from the females. If
they are in a fit state to be operated upon (which may be known by
the facility with which the milt and the roe run from them on a
slight pressure), squeeze the milt of the males into a little
water, and when you have obtained all the milt you can get, add so
much water that the mixture remains slightly opalescent--say about
equal in colour to a tablespoonful of milk mixed in a quart of
water; pour this into a deep dish or bowl, large enough to hold
the largest of your female Trouts; take one of these and put it
into the water so prepared, and gently squeeze the roe from it
whilst the vent is immersed in the water. [7] Do this as quickly as
possible, and return the fish into fresh water, and then pour off
the water containing the impregnated roe, through a strainer,
carefully preserving it for the remaining fish, and immediately
return the roe into fresh spring or brook water. Repeat the
operation for every female Trout, and you will then have a
quantity of impregnated roe, which if properly managed will hatch
with great certainty. Have ready as many boxes as you are able to
stock with spawn (three feet long, two feet broad, and six inches
deep). Fill them to the depth of two inches of river sand, which
ought to be previously so well washed that there is not a particle
of mud left in it, and upon that put two inches of river gravel,
also exceedingly well washed, the pebbles varying in size from a
hazel nut to a pigeon or pullet's egg. These boxes must be so
placed that the water from a spring will flow into the first, and
from the surface of that into the second, and below the whole nest
of boxes there ought to be a small reservoir made--say three yards
by two and eighteen inches deep, and well gravelled at the bottom.
All these matters having been previously arranged, and the water
flowing nicely over the gravel, sprinkle the impregnated roe
equally over the surface of the gravel, say a quarter of a pint to
each box, and it will roll down into the interstices of the gravel
and find a bed in which it will remain snugly until the spring,
when, about March, if all has been properly managed, you will
find, on a careful examination, that the young Trout are coming to
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