History and Habits 31 



rod. The season was an unusually dry one. On 

 the removal of the nets the salmon were seen in 

 great numbers at the mouth in September, and 

 the tacksmen who had done badly, foretold, if rain 

 only came, a grand year for the rods. Unfor- 

 tunately there appeared a great number of por- 

 poises, the fish disappeared, and very few ascended 

 the Deveron, though rain fell a few days after the 

 nets were removed. My total bag for the season 

 was only six salmon." 



More proof, if necessary, could be brought as 

 to salmon not always confining their visits to the 

 rivers in which they were spawned, but enough 

 has been said in support of a now quite general 

 belief that such is the fact. 



Mr. Atkins, the fish culturist of Maine, has 

 ascertained by experiments at Bucksport, where 

 the hatcheries are situated, that the Penobscot 

 salmon spawn only every other year. This is not 

 an established fact in all rivers, and gives, per- 

 haps, grounds for the supposition that these 

 salmon may visit other rivers in alternate years, 

 though it is hardly probable that such is the 

 case. 



As it is only in salt water that salmon, after the 

 smolt stage, gain in weight, and especially just 



