648 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [4] 



There are several rivers in tlie neighborhood of the Miomotegawa, in 

 which salmon are found, more or less, but the fish are decreasing in 

 numbers, owing to the irregularity of the fishing and the neglect of fish 

 propagation. 



Tokio, Japan, April 12, 18S0. 



Sir : On the 9th June, 1877, 1 received, through the kindness of Mr. B. B. 

 Bedding, fish commissioner, California, ten thousand trout-eggs of the 

 California trout (Salmo irideus) from the McCloud Biver, California, of 

 which one-half arrived safely and in good condition. As the eggs arrived 

 unexpectedly, I was compelled to use well-water for hatchiug them, as 

 there was then no establishment for the purpose, and I hoped that, with 

 care, some of the eggs might possibly be thus saved. For this reason I 

 built a temporary hatching-house in my garden, and had the water 

 (57° F.) drawn from the well, pumping it day and night. 



All the preparations were completed on the 13th of June, and the appa- 

 ratus was then fixed, viz: 2 hatching-boxes, 1 foot wide by G feet loug 

 and 8 inches deep, covered at the bottom with a fine gravel; and a reser- 

 voir which contained 400 gallons of water; and the eggs were placed in 

 the box arranged iu the usual way. After a week the eggs began to 

 hatch, and from the 7th of July I fed the fish with the yolk of eggs for 

 a month, and afterwards with a mixture of chrysalis and wheat flour. 

 During this period several difficulties had been encountered, and a great 

 many eggs had perished by a disease (showing itself by a white spot on 

 the eggs) and by the neglect of the employes, &c. Finally, it was found 

 that the Avater was insufficient in quantity to keep the young fry as they 

 grew. 



On the 13th of July the establishment at Yuki was completed and 

 the fish were transported there, but on account of hot weather, and the 

 scarcely of ice nearly all the fish died, and those which arrived at their 

 destination alive were only one thousand. 



From the year 1S77 till the present time the fish have grown satisfac- 

 torily, and their average weight is now five pounds, and their greatest 

 length 1 foot and 7 inches. 



Among the growing fish I have found a few fully ripe, 3 males and 5 

 females, and I have already taken 20,000 eggs, and the impregnated 

 eggs are now in the hatching-box (12th April, 1880). 



I forward to you herewith a drawing of the mature fish, which is 

 taken of the natural size, and by which you will see how the McCloud 

 trout flourishes in fresh water. 



SEKIZAWA AKEKIO, 

 Bureau of Agriculture, Home Department, Japan. 



Spencer F. Baird, Esq., 



Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



