102 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



Hornbrook. The eggs were received at the Fall Creek Hatchery Feb- 

 ruary 13, 1919. 



Hatching. 



The eggs were hatched at Fall Creek Hatchery from the middle to the 

 end of February, 1919. About July 1, 1919, 25,000 of these small king 

 salmon were placed in the cement-sided pond at Fall Creek Hatchery 

 and the other.s w^ere liberated in Fall Creek, which is a tributary of 

 the Klamath River, entering just below the California-Oregon Power 

 Company dam at Copco. The hatchery is about a mile up Fall Creek 

 from its mouth. 



Mark Used. 



The adipose and right ventral fins w^ere removed by clipping off close 

 to the body with a pair of manicurists' cuticle nippers. The marking, 

 begun November 3 and completed November 15, 1919, was done by L. 

 Phillips of the Department of Fish Culture and W. L. Scofield of the 

 Department of Commercial Fisheries of the Fish and Game Commis- 

 sion of California. 



Variation in Size. 



Although from the same brood, hatchery practice and rearing pond, 

 there was great variation in the size of the yearlings at the time of 

 marking, the extremes in length being from l^^ to 5 inches, measured 

 from the tip of the snout to the tip of the central rays of the caudal fin. 

 The small fish, roughly those under two inches in length, were not 

 marked but sorted out as the marking proceeded. These small fish were 

 liberated every day or two. 



Counting and Separation. 



As 250,000 fish had been counted into the rearing pond, no count 

 was made of unmarked fish while marking. The marked fish were care- 

 fully counted each day. ]Mr. Phillips kept tally of his work while 

 marking. Mr. Scofield counted his work at the end of the half day. 

 In each case at the end of the day the fish marked by each person were 

 placed in a separate trough. 



Liberations. 



The first fish marked were held to the end of the fifth day in the 

 trough to determine the effect of rough handling. As no injury showed 

 in the fish, the fir.st five da}'s marking was liberated at the end of the 

 fifth day and from then on the marked fish were liberated each day or 

 two. All liberations w-ere made in Fall Creek. November 1-1 the rear- 

 ing pond was emptied, thus liberating all the unmarked fish of the 

 250,000 except a few held in the hatchery troughs. The following day 

 all remaining unmarked fish were liberated. 



Control. 



In order to determine the possible percentage of fin regeneration, a 

 sample of each half day's marking was retained as a control to be held 

 in the hatchery trough. The control from each person's marking was 



