THE SEA-SALMON 



years of the Atlantic salmon, particularly those of 

 the Restigouche River. He claims authoritatively, 

 that counting from the laying of the ova, the grilse, 

 which average in weight from three to six pounds, 

 return to the rivers in three years, weighing from 

 three to four pounds ; at five years of age, they re- 

 turn, weighing from ten to sixteen pounds ; at seven 

 years, they weigh from sixteen to twenty pounds ; 

 at nine, from twenty-two to twenty-eight pounds ; 

 and at eleven, from twenty-eight to thirty-five 

 pounds. 



Salmon deposit their eggs on coarse gravel in 

 rapid waters as far up to the sources as the depth 

 of the water permits, the temperature falling from 

 44° Fahrenheit. The ^g^ is fertilized at the 

 moment of deposit, and the independent life of the 

 salmon begins at once to develop ; but the extreme 

 cold of the water retards its development, and it 

 does not burst its shell until spring. 



In the rivers of New England it is probable 

 that nearly all the eggs naturally deposited do not 

 mature until April or early in May. In about six 

 weeks after birth, the fingerling puts on a mottled 

 coat with more or less darkish cross-bars, and is 

 known as a "parr," which is at first only about an 

 inch in length. In two years, it reaches six or eight 

 inches, and its red spots and dark bars have given 



15 



