The Salmon 6 5 



If we, then, wish to refer to the scales, it is an easier matter 

 to deal with from 4 per cent to 20 per cent than to go over the whole 

 morning or afternoon's catch as the case may be. The small spring 

 fish which begin to run in January, and cease about the middle of 

 June, or perhaps a little later if unable to push forward, are all of the 

 same age, namely, 4 to 4^ years. The autumn run of fish of the same 

 age takes place about the I5th July, and the spring run from the 

 beginning of November, and continues into May. 



With experience one can quite well tell from outward appearance 

 the age of these fish, without having to refer to their scales. 



For a considerable time I made little headway with the study of 

 scales, until I found out from the parr and the smolt the number of lines 

 added to their scales in a year. This supplied me with a key to Lord 

 Blythswood's explanation, so that after collecting scales from all the 

 different runs of fish, and at all seasons of the year for several years, 

 I was able to tell to within a month how long a fish had been in 

 the sea, and, of course, when it went down as a kelt, and whether 

 it was a grilse, small spring fish, autumn fish, or large spring fish. 

 I could also tell its age and its weight, and whether it had spawned 

 once or twice. This being so, I consider a study of the scales the 

 most important means of determining the life-history of the salmon 

 and the sea-trout. 



The study of scales is a very wide subject, but I shall endeavour 

 to condense my remarks as much as possible. Just as the age of a 

 tree may be determined by counting the number of rings on a cross- 

 section of the trunk, where each ring shows the growth of one year, 

 so the age of the parr may be arrived at by counting the rings or 

 lines on its scales. The parr in a natural state, however, adds to 

 its scale each year not one ring only but sixteen, and this goes 

 on throughout all the life -history of the salmon as long as it 

 continues to feed and grow. In the parr fewer rings are put on 

 during the winter months than during the summer months, but if we 

 take a whole year the number works out as I have said, with very 

 few exceptions. I choose a year to calculate from, because if a fish 



9 



