480 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



map you will see that although it drams a higher range of mountains, 

 yet, that it runs one hundred fifty and miles, at least, through the 

 center of an almost tropical valley. 

 Very respectfully, &c, 



B. B. BEDDING. 

 Prof. Spencer F. Baird, 



Smithsonian Institution, Washington, JJ. C. 



P. S. — We hatched out about 20,000 white-fish of those you so kindly 



forwarded, and on the 28th ultimo I turned them out in Tulare Lake. I 



have no doubt they will thrive, as there is abundance of food. Tulare 



is a peculiar lake. On its entire eastern shore its bottom has a descent 



of only about a foot in a mile; it is quite deep on the western shore; 



the evaporation is so great on the eastern shore that the water becomes 



slightly alkaline, and is always warm, while in the center and on the 



western shore it is cold and pure. For two miles or more wide and thirty 



miles long, the water on the eastern shore is filled with minute animal 



life. Its fish are as yet, I believe, uudescribed. I have seen a perch and 



some very coarse-scaled suckers {Catostomus.) There is a fine large 



white-fleshed fish, about 2 feet 6 inches long, which the people call "lake 



trout." It is not a "salmon." It is excellent food, quite abundant, and 



in constant demand. It looks to me to be a carp, and of finer flavor 



than any 1 ate in Europe. 



B. B. R. 



Fresno, April 25, 1875. 



Dear Sir : In regard to catching fish and the different kinds that 

 are in the San Joaquin River, as far as 1 have been able to find out, is 

 as follows : 



During the summer there is no fish of any consequence, except a large 

 kind of what is called sucker, but in the fall the salmon and salmon- 

 trout find their way up here in large quantities. Last fall I helped to 

 spear quite a number, as tbat is about the only way of fishing in this 

 part of the country ; but below the San Joaquin bridge I understand 

 they were trapped in a wire corral by ranchers and fed to hogs ; they 

 were so plentiful. Besides the two kinds mentioned there are small 

 rock-bass, and I have seen something resembling black bass, but in 

 rather scant numbers. 



If I can furnish you with any more information on this subject, please 



let me know. 



Yours, 



WALTER NETHEROLIFT. 

 Mr. B. B. Redding. 



San Francisco, Cal., May 11, 1875. 

 Dear Sir : Your letter of April 29 just received. I am making 

 inquiries and gathering information relative to the salmon in the San 



