STONE ON THE SACEAMENTO SALMON. 191 



Answer. Kot at a-ll on tlie McCloud aud " Little Sacramento." At 

 Tehama the sahiion. are all destroyed by fishermen, or nearly all. 



Question 43. At what age does the male begin to breed ; and at what 

 age the female 1 



Answer. Probably the male begins to breed eighteen months after 

 hatching. The female probably does not breed till one year later. 

 (See question 29, p. 189.) 



Question 44:. For how many years can these fish spawn? 



Answer. jSTo one knows. It is certain, however, that the salmon of the 

 IMcCloud and Little Sacramento do not spawn but once in those rivers, 

 for they all die after spawning. If they ever spawned before, it mnst be 

 somewhere else, aud they can never spawn again. There were fish in 

 the McCloud this fall, 1872, that seemed to be several years old. They 

 died like the rest, and it is apnzzling qnestion where they si)entthetwo 

 or three previons years. Other puzzling questions are called out as, for 

 instance, Why did they not come into the McCloud last year? If they 

 went elsewhere last year, why did they not go to the same place this 

 year! If all the salmon die after the first spawning, how is the stock of 

 mature fish kept up? &c., &c. These questions must remain unan- 

 swered for the present. The fact alone remains that ninety-nine one- 

 hundredths,if notallof the salmon in the upper tributaries of the Sacra- 

 mento River, appear to die immediately after their first spawning in 

 those streams, unless the few stragglers of the '' fall run " be an excep- 

 tion. 



Question 45, Does the act of spawning exert an injurious effect ? 



Answer. Whatever the effect of the spa^^"ning may be, it is certain 

 that the spawning fish die as soon as it is over. 



Question 46. Where do these fish spawn, and when ? 



Answer. The Sacramento salmon spawn as follows : At the sources of 

 the river, in July ; in the Little Sacramento and in the McCloud rivers, 

 in August; at the mouth of the McCloud, in September; in smaller 

 tributaries of the main river at and below Tehama, in October and 

 November. 



Question 47. Can you give any account of the process : whether males 

 and females go in pairs, or one female and two males ; whether the sexes 

 are mixed indiscriminately? «S:c. 



Answer. The fish pair off and spawn very much according to the com- 

 mon descriptions of the spawning of other salmon. The males are very 

 aggressive at this season, and are always attacking other fish near them. 



Question 48. Is the Water ever whitened or colored by the milt of the 

 male I 



Answer. Never to a noticeable extent. 



Question 49. What temi)erature of water is most favorable for hatch- 

 ing f 



Answer. 45° F. to 50o F. 



Question 50. At what depth of water are the eggs laid, if on, or near 

 he bottom ? 



