252 PROPAGATION OF FISH. 
trout, estimated at over 10,000 in a medium sized fish. 
Tlie young, called usually pinks, remain in tlie fresli 
water one j^ear after liatcliing, when they are termed 
smolts, and descend to the sea, returning in a few months, 
generally about the middle of June, weighing from one 
to ten pounds, and are then called grilse. After they 
have spawned as grilse and again returned to the sea, 
they are termed salmon. They grow Tvith astonishing 
rapidity in salt water, a large fish doubling his weight 
in a little over a month, until a certain size is attained, 
when their growth almost ceases. Smolts rise readily at 
the fly, and may be mistaken for trout, which they some- 
what resemble. I have taken great numbers of them 
when fishing for trout in Canada, and was at first some- 
wdiat at a loss to tell what they were. Of course I 
relieved them carefully of the hook, and returned them 
to their native element. 
Salmon spawn in pools, on rough, gravelly beds, com- 
posed of small stones about the size of a walnut, and ac- 
cording to some accounts, require several days to deposit 
all the roe and milt. They should be taken by the net 
when engaged in this operation, and treated in the same 
manner as trout, or placed in a tub where they can be held 
by head and tail, and the spawn expressed w^ithout 
injury. This course may be pursued with all fish w^hose 
weight would render them unmanageable out of w^ater, 
but will not generally be found necessary. They spawn 
in November or December, hatch in March or April, and 
next March or April descend to the ocean. In other 
particulars they do not difi'er materially from trout, and 
the rules for the propagation of the latter will apply 
