to themselves, they will gradually increase; but so
many of their eggs fail of being fecundated, and so many are destroyed
before they hatch, by enemies, and by the collection of sediment in the
nest, that the number of young fish is small compared with the whole
number of eggs deposited. Artificial spawning, fecundation, and
hatching, are far more productive. The process is simple and easy: when
the female-fish first begins to deposite her eggs, catch her with a
small net. It can not be done with bait, for fish will bite nothing at
the time of spawning. We recollect, often when a boy, of trying to catch
trout out of the brooks in October, where we could see large, beautiful
fish, lying lazily in the places from which we had caught many in the
summer, and put our bait carefully on every side of them, and they would
not bite. Then we knew not the cause: since studying the habits of fish,
we have learned that they never will bite while spawning; with trout,
this is done from the 1st to the 15th of October, some few spawning till
the last of November. Having caught two fish, male and female, take the
female in one hand, and press her abdomen gently with the other hand,
gradually moving it downward, and the eggs will be easily extruded, and
should fall into an earthen vessel of pure water. Then take the
male-fish, and go through the same process, which will press out the
spermatic fluid, which should be allowed to fall into the same vessel
with the eggs; stir up the whole together, and, after it has stood
fifteen minutes, pour off the water, put in more and stir it up, and let
it stand as before. This having been done three times, the eggs will be
thoroughly fecundated, and are ready to be deposited in the nests for
hatching. If the fish are caught before the time of beginning to spawn,
the eggs and the spermatic fluid will not be mature, and will be only
extruded by hard pressing, and failing to be fecundated, the eggs will
perish. The fluid from one male will fecundate the eggs of half a dozen
females. These eggs may be hatched in the flumes described above, though
hatching-boxes are preferable. The old fish can be returned to the
water, and may live many years and produce thousands of fish. These
fish, carefully treated and fed, will become so tame as to eat out of
your hand, like the "Naiad Queen" of Professors Ackley and Garlick, of
Cleveland, Ohio. Among all the hatching apparatus we have seen
described, we regard that