352 P.ULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 



of fisb were beiug ove^com(^, to plant salmon fry in the headwaters, 

 where they would find suitable and abundant food; and if they re- 

 turned as mature fish through the waters of the lower part of the river 

 the success of the experiment would be assured. Since 1882, accord- 

 ingly, more than a million and a half of fry have been planted in the 

 Hudson by the TJ. S. Fish Commission. As ordinarily these salmon go 

 down stream to salt water at 2 years of age, and 2 years later re- 

 turn to spawn, it was expected that some would come back in 1880. as 

 the first plant thus made was in 1882. That they did so is evidenced by 

 the catch of 3 salmon, weighing from 10 to 13 iiounds each, in the 

 river below the Troy dam.* 



A few days ago, during a freshet in the Hudson, two of the young 

 salmon planted in the headwaters of the river were taken in the flunie 

 of a mill two miles above here, and replaced in the stream to go on their 

 way to the sea. One weighed one-half and the other three-fourths of a 

 pound, which shows very encouraging growth. The point where they 

 were taken is three miles below Clendon Brook, which is the lowest 

 tributary of the Hudson in which young salmon have been planted. 



In October, 1885, at the request of Prof. S. F. Baird, I caught a few 

 of the plant of 1884, then about 18 months old, and forwarded tliem to 

 Washington. These young salmon weve from G to 8 inches long, cov- 

 ered with fine silver scales and dotted wi^th carmine and black. When 

 they go to sea a few months later the (tarmine dots disappear, but the 

 black spots remain and are found on the adult salmon. During the i)ast 

 summer I did not see in Clendon Brook (where they were planted) any 

 that I considered of the plant of 1884; still, some may have been there, 

 as all of one year's hatching do not go to sea at the same time. Some 

 salmon grow much faster than others, and in one can of yearling fish 

 (all hatched at the same time) I found that they ran in size from 2^ to 

 about G inches. One of the salmon that were taken in 1885 contained 

 ripe milt. In the summer of 188G I reported that the plajjt of 1884 

 seemed to have gone to sea, and undoubtedly most of them had; but 

 probably some of the slow growing fish of 1884 remained and could not 

 be distinguished from those of 1885. In July last I took sj^ecimens of 

 the ])lant of 1885, which were almost as large as the eighteen months' 

 fish of the year before. 



V>y these experiments Professor Bair<l has showed that salmon planted 

 in tlie headwaters of the Hudson will endeavor to return there to spawn ; 

 and all that there seems to be lacking to make the Hudson a salmon 

 river are n)eans for the fish to get back to their spawning-grounds and 

 laws for their ])rotection. The obstacles are being overcome by means 

 of fish ways; but at present there is no i)rotection for the Atlantic sal- 

 mon in this State, as heretofore there have been no salmon to protect. 



Glens Falls, N. Y., December 27, 188G. 



•See notice of this iu the FisU Coiumissiou KciioH for 1885, p. 110. 



