H2 Transactions. 



else. Only the other day he received a consignment of veiy 

 healthy salmon ova from America. In Canada the salmon rivers 

 had been taken in hand, and in some of them reception houses 

 had been built which the salmon entered, being prevented by an 

 artificial obstruction from going further up the river, and having 

 attendants to wait upon them. In some instances they were 

 actually kei)t for some time in the fresh water and then sent back 

 to the sea. This alone, he need not say, would tend to keep them 

 out of the hands of the poachers. In the management of our 

 salmon rivers, he was sorry to say, we were much behind the 

 Americans. What with pollutions of various sorts and absolute 

 neglect in many cases, they seemed to be going to destruction. 

 Fish culture had at first to encounter a good deal of opposition, 

 partly arising from our ignorance of the subject. This was the cause 

 of its being often carried on in a rather blind manner, not sufiicient 

 care being taken with the development of the embryos, &c. While 

 people were successful in producing fish, in many cases these would 

 not live to grow up. However, within the last ten years they had 

 made great strides in their practical knowledge, and this difficulty 

 had been entirely overcome. Having referred to the hatchery on 

 the Tay, first at Stormontfield, now at Duplin Castle, and to the 

 great encouragement given to fish culture by the American Govern- 

 ment — which has provided an aquarium car for transference of fish 

 from one part of the country to another, and allows trains by 

 which it travels to be stopped at streams for watering and other 

 purposes — the lecturer quoted from a letter by the late Professor 

 Baird, inspector of fisheries in that country, to this eff"ect : " In 

 the Sacramento Eiver we are absolutely cei'tain of our ground, 

 having brought up the supply of salmon to more than its pristine 

 condition of abundance by planting about two millions of young 

 fish every year. The catch has increased in five years from five 

 million pounds to fifteen millions ; and in 1881 there was more 

 fish than could be utilised in all the canning establishments on the 

 river." With reference to the quantity mentioned, Mr Armistead 

 observed that it was no use attempting to deal with a salmon river 

 unless the thing was done on a large scale. Similar results had 

 been attained on many other rivers both in the United States 

 and Canada. As an example of the practical value of fish culture 

 in our own country, he exhibited a diagram showing the results 

 ol)taincd from stocking Loch Leven with trout fry. 9000 fry were 

 turned into the loch in 1875 — a very small number for such a 



