390 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



the eggs cling: togetlier in a niaswS and to tlie bottom of the stream; 

 they then commence to separate, and the gentle current sweeping down 

 through the trough like hole carries the egg out of the excavation, as it 

 becomes detached fiom the mass, and onto the nest of stones below, 

 where it tumbles fiom one stone to another, nntil it drops into one of 

 the crevices, eventually finding its Avay to the bottom of the pile or 

 nest, and tliere lies securely hidden away, well protected from preda- 

 tory fish, until it is finally hatched. 



It takes from forty to sixty days for the eggs to hatch, the time 

 depending upon the temperature of the water. After hatching the 

 fish remain in the nest about twenty days, until the umbilical sac is 

 exhausted, having at this time but one instinct — to hide and burrow 

 deeper into the nest. After the substance of the sac is consumed the 

 little fish approaches the surface to snap at passing particles of food, 

 and in so doing is washed away from the nest and finally makes its way 

 to the shoal water near the shore, gradually dropping downstream 

 until the fall freshets come and carry it into the larger streams, and 

 eventually into the ocean. 



Salmon make their nests and spawn differently under different cir- 

 cumstances. If prevented from reaching their spawning-ground, by 

 late freshets or other obstacles, they will spawn in the river or <le])osit 

 their eggs in the muddy bottom of a pool, if there are no gravel beds 

 available. In both instances most of the eggs are lost. By artificial 

 means as much as 05 per cent of the eggs are hatched; and in depos- 

 iting the young fi-y it has been the custom at the Fort Gaston station 

 to place them in the streams near the spawning-grounds five or six 

 weeks after hatching. Young salmon fed abundantly in the ponds for 

 four or five months before they are put in the streams acquire different 

 habits, and are inclined to linger in the fresh water the year round, 

 having become too strong to be carried out by the fall and winter fresh- 

 ets against their inclination. The salmon is very much the victim 

 of circumstances, and in his movements is governed more or less by 

 freshets and the temperature of the water. From the latter he is most 

 naturally controlled in seeking more genial surroundings. The early 

 stage of a little salmon's existence is made up of continuous alarms to 

 avoid danger, ami the commencement of his life is spent in hiding and 

 darting about until he gains sufficient strength and activity to venture 

 abroad for food, trusting to si)eed for safety. 



The method of taking salmon for spawn at Fort Gaston consists in 

 running a wire fence diagonally across the stream, near the upper en«l of 

 which is inserted a V-shaped tra]) made of the samcAvire stretched over a 

 wooden frame ; < 1 1 e \Hn 1 1 ted end of 1 1 1 e trap is pi aced upstream a 1 1 d th e w i vq 

 fence extends to the shores from each corner of the lower end. In the 

 lower face of the trap is a hole large enough for the salmon to entci-, with 

 converging steel rods, IS inches long, extending inwardly iVom around 

 the opening; these are pressed apart as the salmon enters and spring 



