Transportation Of Eggs

Eggs should be packed in round tin boxes, about three inches wide and two and one-half inches deep; a few small holes are punched in the bottom to let the water run off, as water left in the box will kill the eggs. Specimens of eggs from different parts of the square are first examined with the microscope to see if a good percentage is impregnated. If they are, a six-quart pan is filled with water to the heighth of the box in which the eggs are to be packed. The bottom of the box is then covered with moss, and the box placed in the pan and filled with water. The moss used is that which grows in swamps, or on stones and timbers, in wet places, such as the stones in a brook, or the timbers of an old dam. It may be collected and kept all. winter in a damp place in the hatching-house. The bottom of the tin is filled with a piece of this moss, somewhat depressed in the middle, so that the eggs shall not touch the sides of the box, the moss having previously been well washed to free it from dirt and insects. The moss to be used in packing must undergo a little more preparation. The green fibres must be cut with a pair of scissors from the roots. Only the green, soft and living fibres are used, and the roots, stems and dead leaves thrown away as useless. This fine moss must then be washed thoroughly. A very convenient way is to nail wire netting over the bottom of an old soap box. Cut the moss into this, and dipping it into water wash thoroughly so as to remove all dirt and insects, the latter being often injurous to the eggs. By simply lifting the box out of the water, you drain the moss.

The eggs are then taken out of the trough, by being brushed with a feather into a spoon. If you wish to count them, fill your glass measure with water, and turn the contents of the spoon into it. When the five hundred or thousand eggs are measured, pour them into a ladle (small enough to go inside of the packing box), having previously filled the ladle with water; then sink the ladle beneath the water in the packing box, and by gently tipping and shaking it the eggs will fall to the bottom of the box; where they may be spread evenly over the moss with a feather. A layer of prepared moss must then be lightly laid over the eggs without taking the box entirely out of the water, and another five hundred or thousand eggs put in. Then fill the box with the same kind of moss, take it out of the water and let it stand a little while so that the water may drain off through the holes in the bottom, and the damp, spongy moss be left, an elastic and life-giving cushion to keep the eggs from feeling sudden jolts on the journey, and to supply them with oxygen. It will drain more quickly if a chip is placed under the bottom at one side. When the water is all drained off the covers are to be placed on the boxes, and tied on with pack thread. If in any of these operations the box of eggs should fall out of your hands to the floor, it would probably kill nearly every egg.

The tin boxes are to be packed in saw dust in a box or pail, the saw dust being first very slightly dampened. The pail or box should have a handle so that the ex-pressmen may lift it and set it down lightly, and not be tempted by the light weight of a square box to pitch it about and destroy every egg in it. The saw dust should cover the boxes to the depth of an inch, at least; then, if they are not exposed to a freezing temperature, nor to a hot fire, and receive moderately fair treatment, they will go safely thousands of miles. We have sent them beyond the Rocky Mountains, to California, to England, and to France. We have packed eggs in such a box when they were first taken from the fish, and keeping it at the same temperature as the water in the troughs, have left it until eggs taken at the same time and placed in the troughs, were hatching out; and then, opening the box, have found that some of the fish had already appeared, others were just breaking the shells, and all the impregnated eggs were alive, and in good condition. Of course the young fish did not live in the moss, but would die as soon as they appeared. We do not mention this as a new method of hatching eggs, but to show how perfect the means is of sending them.

The eggs in the box should be spread as thinly and evenly through the box as possible, taking care that none of them touch the sides, and the moss packed in well (not tightly) to keep them in place. If this is not done the recipient of the eggs will sometimes find them, after a long journey, jolted together into a solid mass, and spoiled. Use clean, bright tin boxes, which are free from iron rust, as rust on the tin or on the trays or screens which the eggs touch will kill them to a cetainty.

We have given this as the best method of shipping eggs, but larger boxes may be used for salmon eggs if large numbers are to be shipped and it is important to reduce labor to the minimum. In such case a partition of thin board should separate the box into two or more divisions and be supported by strips of wood so as to support the moss and eggs above. If these boxes are then packed in open crates in hay, straw or saw dust, ice may be placed above them and allowed to drip on the crates and among the straw, if they are to be exposed for a long time to hot weather.

They may be advantageously sent in refrigerator cars which are kept at a uniform temperature, or in the compartment of vessels appropriated to the shipment of fresh meat. The eggs of the California salmon have been safely sent to New Zealand. In 1876 shipments of eggs were made from San Francisco to New Zealand and arrived in such good order that over seventy-live per cent. of them hatched. The eggs after being packed, had to be carried two miles over a rough road, with the thermometer 104 degrees in the shade, then taken by railroad three hundred miles, and finally transported by steamer over seven thousand miles to the antipodes, crossing the equator on the way. So it is apparent there is little difficulty in transporting salmon eggs.

Another plan is to make a box of about a foot square with trays like drawers to slide into it and fit on one-another, which are kept in place by a door to the front of the box. The trays are nearly an inch deep, and are merely strips of wood nailed in the shape of a square with a bottom of canton flannel. The upper drawer has a lid of canton flannel also. The trays are placed in water, the eggs are spread carefully in them till they are full, and then they are put in the box. As the bottom of one rests on the top of the other the eggs are kept in place. Such a box will hold an immense number of eggs, but is only suited to being sent by a messenger who will take charge of it, and cannot be trusted to express.