AETIFICIAL PROPAGATIOK" OF PACIFIC SALMONS. 31 



They are then placed in tanks or barrels, with alternate layers of 

 salt, water being added in sufficient amount to keep the brine well 

 over the top layer. 



The material has also been prepared by dry salting in dairy salt 

 and packing it in a dry, tight box or other container, weighing it 

 down in a solid mass. The fish are then taken out, rinsed in fresh 

 water, and hung over a pole in the dry house. A slow heat is applied 

 at first to toughen the fiber, following which they are kept in the 

 dry house until quite hard and dry, when they are packed in boxes 

 between layers of papers to absorb any moisture and held in a dry 

 storage until needed. 



Still another method was tried at the Bureau's California stations, 

 "where a quantity of sundried or sun-cured salmon was prepared with- 

 out salt, the climatic conditions being favorable for curing salmon 

 in that manner until late in the fall. 



Several methods of preparing this food w^ere adopted. In all 

 cases, however, the fish were first soaked well, preferably overnight, 

 in running water, to remove the salt. Some were then cooked, 

 pressed, and grated ; others were prepared by grinding in an Enter- 

 prise meat chopper and mixing the meat with a mush made from 

 middlings. Quantities have also been prepared and fed in the raw 

 state. In all forms the material has proved excellent, and when 

 used in conjunction with small quantities of liver or plucks, to vary 

 the diet, the results have been eminently satisfactory. Its cost, based 

 on the lots which have so far been put up, has averaged 1 cent a 

 pound. When prepared in large quantities, it should be materially 

 cheaper. 



Most excellent results were attained with this food at one of 

 the Puget Sound stations of the Bureau of Fisheries. In a slough 

 where several hundred thousand fish had been placed at the time 

 of the absorption of the yolk sac, sides of salted salmon were laid 

 on the bottom. As the meat softened, hundreds of young fish 

 could be seen working on it, and it was finally all devoured. The 

 fish remained in the slough under the care and observation of an 

 attendant, attained a rapid growth, and developed into splendid 

 fingerlings. 



Under such an arrangement the expense of salmon rearing is 

 reduced to a minimum, and work of similar character should be 

 encouraged on all salmon streams where the natural conditions are 

 favorable. 



In connection with rearing operations the importance of providing 

 a mixed diet can not be too strongly emphasized. If the principal 

 food consists of the prepared fish, a food of liver and mush should be 

 given frequently. Wliere this is done as often as once a day, it will 

 be found to produce the most rapid growth. No matter how good 

 any one food may be, nor how cheaply it is prepared, the best possible 

 results will be attained where a variet}' is used. 



PLANTING YOUNG SALMON. 



Wlien the salmon have reached the proper age for distribution, 

 they should be released on or near the natural spawning grounds, in 

 the most protected spot that can be found. It is unwise to liberate 

 young salmon before they have absorbed the yolk sac, and where the 



