J. PISCICULTURE AND THE FISHERIES. 407 



of the first named weighing as much as ten pounds. Under 

 the name of " trout" we presume reference is made to the 

 black bass, which, we believe, in most of the Southern States 

 bears that appellation. A brook trout of ten pounds' weight 

 in Alabama would be a greater curiosity even than one reach- 

 ing that size in the head waters of the Androscoggin, in the 

 region controlled by the Oquassa Fishing Association. Let- 

 ter of William Perm Yonge. 



FISH CULTURE IN CALIFORNIA. 



The Biennial Report of the Commissioners of Fisheries of 

 the State of California, for the years 1870 and 1871, is a docu- 

 ment of unusual interest, as showing the appreciation by that 

 state of the importance of taking early and timely precau- 

 tions in regard to its food fishes. Accustomed as we have 

 been to hear of the abundance of salmon, trout, and other 

 valuable fishes on the California coast, we are hardly pre- 

 pared to learn, as we do from this document, that many of 

 the more important interior fisheries of the state have been 

 almost entirely destroyed by reckless methods of capture and 

 other causes. 



As far as salmon are concerned, the commissioners are in 

 doubt whether the number is decreasing or not, although 

 they are in sufficient abundance to render it comparatively 

 easy to keep up the supply. The principal difficulty antici- 

 pated in this connection is in consequence of the mining op- 

 erations, which load the streams with mud, that is deposited, 

 particularly on the eggs, in quantity sufficient to prevent 

 their hatching. The remedy for this will, of course, be to col- 

 lect the eggs, by the method of Mr. Atkins or otherwise, and, 

 after hatching them in a state hatching-house, turn them loose 

 when properly matured. 



It is well known that salmon will make their way through 

 muddy waters to reach their spawning beds, and that the 

 young fish are not very sensitive to this evil, provided the 

 temperature of the water be suitable ; but if the gravel beds 

 used as spawning places by the fish be covered with soft 

 mud, even with the water clear above, the difficulty of repro- 

 duction is almost equally great. 



According to the California report, salmon are caught in 

 the small tributaries of the Sacramento on the sides of Mount 



