J>- 



been discontinued, there were straggling salmon caught. After 

 the salmon had been restored to the Connecticut river they 

 were freely taken by the fishermen. For a number of years 

 there was a marked falling off in the numbers of fish caught 

 after the plantings had been discontinued for four or five 

 years, and then followed straggling fish in more or less num- 

 bers every year. 



Mr. Spangler. — Early in the seventies, salmon were 

 planted in the Delaware. In 1878 about 40 fish were taken, 

 but since that time only one or two each year. 



Mr. Mather. — As I have before stated, I made a plant of 

 100,000 salmon, on account of the U. S. Fish Commission, 

 in some tributaries of the Delaware river in 1885, and it is 

 possible that the fish purchased by Mr. Spangler may be one 

 of that planting. The fry were put in in two New Jersey 

 streams, the Pequest river and the Paulin's Kill, in May of 

 that year, and would now be four years old. An account of 

 this planting will be found in the report of U. S. Commis- 

 sion of Fish and Fisheries for 1885, page 115. 



Dr. Kingsbury. — I would ask Mr. Mather if the salmon 

 of which he speaks were the Atlantic or the Pacific species ? 



Mr. Mather. — They were the Atlantic salmon. The 

 Pacific salmon plantings have been abandoned on this coast 

 for over six years, and possibly more. I can't say just how 

 long, at this distance from my books. 



Dr. Kingsbury. — Is there any known reason why the 

 millions of California salmon which were planted in our At- 

 lantic streams some years ago never returned .'' 



Mr. Mather. — Nothing is positively known of the quin- 

 nat salmon in Eastern waters after the fish went to sea. 

 They seemed to thrive in our rivers and many "parr" were 

 caught, or seen, but the adult fish never returned. I have a 

 theory to account for this, and it may be briefly stated thus.* 

 Mr. Stone recommended this salmon as one that could, or 

 would, pass through warmer waters than our Eastern fish and 

 consequently might thrive below the limit in which the At- 



