CULTURE OF THE SALMON. 135 



hibited for a few years at its mouth, and the salmon pro- 

 tected on their spawning-grounds. There are no doubt 

 many such along the coast of New England that could be 

 stocked, and salmon cultivated with as much profit as at 

 Doohulla. 



The project of stocking the rivers of Australia with 

 salmon was commenced in 1864. After a long discussion 

 as to the manner of sending out the ova, a hundred thou- 

 sand salmon and three thousand trout eggs were packed in 

 two hundred boxes; moss being used in packing, much as 

 we do with the ova of trout in this country. The two 

 hundred boxes were closely surrounded by thirty tons of 

 ice in the hold of the ship Norfolk, which sailed on the 

 21st of January. The ship was seventy-seven days in 

 making the passage, and arrived at Melbourne on the 15th 

 of April. The greater number of the boxes were at once 

 sent off to Tasmania, reaching Hobart Town on the 20th, 

 where suitable arrangements had been made for hatching 

 on the river Plenty. On opening the boxes it was found 

 that more than two-thirds of the ova had perished. This 

 occurred where they were tightly packed and the moss was 

 deadened and had assumed a brownish tint. In the boxes 

 where the moss was green and somewhat loose, they were 

 still alive. 



The temperature of the water in which they were hatched 

 varied from 46 to 49, some of the ice left from the Nor- 

 folk being used to keep it below the latter point on warm 

 days. Mr. Ranisbottorn, son of the noted fish culturist, 

 had charge of the hatching; but with all his care only 



