STONE CALIFORNIA TROUT PONDS IN 1879. 719 



eggs, which I will now endeavor briefly to do, leaving the subject of the 

 natural history of the trout to some future time, after we have had ex- 

 perience in hatching them and extracting their eggs. 



A ditch 220 feet long, 5 feet deep, and averaging 3 feet in width, con- 

 veys the water from the creek to the trout-ponds. To turn the water of 

 the creek into the ditch, a dam 30 feet long and two feet high, built of 

 solid rock and heavy timbers, has been constructed across the creek for 

 a protection against high water, which, in these mountain torrents, is 

 very formidable. A breakwater of solid rock has been built at the 

 head of the ditch, 55 feet long and 4 feet square. The water for the 

 trout-ponds is taken directly from the creek into the supply ditch by a 

 plank box 12 inches square. The ditch first delivers the water from the 

 creek into a pond 18 feet long, 16 feet wide, and 6 feet deep. From this 

 pond a short ditch takes the water into a second pond 24 feet long, 12 

 feet wide, and 7 feet deep. Thence the water proceeds partly by a 

 ditch and partly in a natural channel back to a lower point of the creek 

 from which it was taken. 



Just below the ponds, and between them and the McCloud Eiver, is 

 the hatching-house, 24 feet long and 18 feet wide, with 8 feet posts. 

 The hatching-house, which is on the same general plan and finished 

 with the same apparatus as the hatching-house at the salmon-breeding 

 station, has a hatching capacity of 6,000,000 trout eggs. 



Adjoining the hatching-house on the south is a dwelling-house sub- 

 stantially built, 30 feet long and 18 feet wide, with an addition on the 

 south 18 feet by 12 feet, with a shed roof. There is also a long sup- 

 plementary ditch, 400 yards in length, carrying 40 inches of water, 

 miner's measure, taken from a point higher up the creek, which, in case 

 of accident to the original supply ditch, would bring water to the ponds 

 till the injuries to the original ditch could be repaired. Another ditch is 

 so constructed that it can irrigate several acres of clear and fertile land, 

 which can then be used for a garden. All these structures are placed 

 above the highest high- water mark of the river, so as to be entirely free 

 from danger when this formidable river is at its highest. This com- 

 pletes the enumeration of the most important structures that have been 

 built at this point ; but in neighboring creeks two large fish-traps have 

 been placed to catch the wild trout of the river when they come up to 

 spawn. The traps are 14 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 5 feet deep. They 

 are built of poles, with heavy timbers to hold them in place. A dam 

 and rack are built across the creek, similar to the dam and rack at the 

 salmon station on the McCloud, to force the ascending trout to the trap. 

 The traps are covered at the top, so that when the high water pours en- 

 tirely over them the trout cannot escape. By the help of these traps a 

 large number of spawning trout are captured, which help very much to 

 increase the yearly harvest of eggs. 



In my next report I hope to give a detailed account of the catching 

 of the trout and taking of the eggs, besides some new features in the nat- 



