XXX REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



numbers since they were placed in the pond. In the report of the 

 commissioners of fisheries of the State of New York for the year 

 1874-'7o, it is said of the California salmon : "These fish will endure 

 a much higher temperature of water, spawn at a different season, 

 are less exacting in the circumstances necessary to their well- 

 being." In view of these facts, as to their habits, endurance, and 

 general vigor and energy, have we not a right to hope for ultimate suc- 

 cess in stocking the Mississippi and other eastern rivers with this val- 

 uable species % 



The stocking of a large number of rivers of the United States 

 with this food-fish to as great an extent as the Sacramento Eiver 

 or even the San Joaquin, is an enterprise well worthy great effort 

 and much pecuniary outlaj', and its successful achievement will prove 

 a blessing to the poorer classes of the country as well as another 

 evidence of the value of science in its application to the economic indus- 

 tries. If, however, our anticipations are only partially realized in a 

 moderate proportion to what we now have in the California and Oregon 

 rivers, the labor and cost of the experiment will not have been in vain, 

 and coming generations will have cause to thank the liberality and 

 statesmanship of our present law-givers. 



G. — ATLANTIC SALMON. 



During the seasons of 1873-'74 and 1874-'75 the collection of eggs of 

 Penobscot salmon has been conducted at Bucksport, by Mr. C. G. Atkins, 

 in the same manner as described in the report for 1872-'73. 



The fixtures and apparatus employed have undergone considerable 

 enlargement and amendment, but the essential features of the system 

 remain the same as at first adopted. The salmon are caught in early 

 summer in pounds in the Penobscot Eiver, carried alive to a small fresh- 

 water pond, and kept there until the breeding-season, when they are 

 caught again and manipulated. 



Duriug the first season the salmon had the range of a pond of GO 

 acres, and a large number escaped recapture at the spawning-season. 

 They have since been confined in an inclosure of about 10 acres, and 

 each year the inclosing banier has been made more secure. In 1873 

 and 1871 it was a strong net, and in spite of all exertions a number of 

 salmon each year escaped. In 1875 a fence composed of wooden racks 

 was substituted for the net, and proved an effectual means of confining 

 the salmon. 



The means of catching the fish in the fall have been improved by 

 the introduction of additional pounds, nets, and other apparatus, so that 

 the waste of eggs by the fish laying them before they can be caught and 

 manipulated is reduced to a very small amount. 



In the hatching-house since the first season the troughs have been 

 reduced to a uniform length of about 23 feet, and fitted with covers. 



The use of tin boxes for packing eggs for transportation has been 

 mostly abandoned on account of its expense. Wooden trays, 3 inches 



