ATKINS THE SALMON AND ITS ARTIFICIAL CULTURE. 243 



course desceadiiig gentl^', but, as it approaches the Penobscot, rushing 

 down over ledges at a grade that probably prevented any kind of mi- 

 gratory fish ascending, even before the erection of dams. Were it not 

 for the natural impediments, the stream and pond would doubtless 

 have been frequented by alewives. The volume of water is sufficient to 

 <lrive a saw-mill nearly half of the year. 



The plan- of operations was essentially the same as the preceding 

 year; the parent salmon were to be obtained alive in May, June, and 

 July, and confined in fresh water until the spawning season. The place 

 selected for confining them was the lower end of the pond, where an 

 enclosure of some four acres was made !'y building a barrier of stakes 

 and brush across fcom shore to shore, a distance of about 400 feet. 

 Salmon placed herein would have access to the brook that forms 

 the outlet of the pond, and would be kept by the barrier in such 

 close proximity that when the breeding season arrived they would 

 readily find the running water, and, passing down through the gate, 

 would be in a narrow brook, where we could catch and manipulate them. 



The salmon could be obtained only from the weirs, which are, in the 

 vicinity of Bucksport, the only means employed in catching them. Ar- 

 rangements were made with a number of fishermen to take salmon alive 

 from the weirs and deliver them in good condition at Bucksport. They 

 were provided with canvas bags with which to dip the salmon from the 

 weirs to avoid the mutilation they receive from dip-nets, and with per- 

 forated boats in which to convey them to the place of deliver^'. These 

 boats were the common "dories" in use by fishermen on the New Eng- 

 land coast, and by cod fishermen on the banks. They were furnished with 

 a smooth lining of boards inside, were perforated with large holes fore 

 and aft, which could be closed when it was desirable to keep out the 

 water, as when towing them empty back to the weirs, and covered with 

 a strong net to prevent the fish from -jumping out. When the boat was 

 depressed with the holes open it was half filled with water, and when it 

 was in motion a current ran freely through it, while iron gratings con- 

 fined the salmon within a space 7 feet long in the middle of the boat, 

 and prevented their escape through the holes^ The weirs in use on the 

 Penobscot, elsewhere described in detail, are so constructed that the 

 salmon, together with other fish caught in them, arejeft by the receding 

 tide on a board floor, where they soon die. In taking them for breeding 

 purposes, the fisherman visits his weir a short time before low water, 

 while there is still water enough above the boards for the fish to swim 

 in. The salmon boat is brought alongside, and into it the salmon are 

 carefully dipped. The same boat takes the salmon from several weirs, 

 and as soon as they are all collected, or as soon thereafter as the flood- 

 tide makes, the laden boat is taken in tow by a dory, which is propelled 

 by wind when that is favorable, otherwise by oars, and brought to Bucks- 

 port. At first the salmon taken on the night tides were brought and 



