SALMON HATCHING ON m'cLOUD RIVER, CALIFORNIA, 1877. 801 



ing. The next moruiug I came out to the fishery on one of the teams, 

 staid here until the next night, and then went down on the stage to 

 Eedding, where, on arriving, I found the three teams were there before 

 me and unloaded. So we went right to work and loaded the crates 

 into the cars, and filled the ice chambers. Then I went to bed, just at 

 daylight, and slept a few hours, and in the afternoon we worked in 

 the car, refilling the ice chambers that had been filled on the first day 

 the car reached Redding, and packing a box of specimens of trout and 

 young salmon for the Smithsonian Institution. There were five jars, and 

 I packed them solidly in sawdust, and marked them Prof. S. F. Baird, 

 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C, in full. 



"The ice in the chambers filled two days before had melted only a 

 little, but 1 went over them all, and gave them all the ice they would 

 take. I packed the crates on both sides of the car, leaving a passage- 

 way the whole length in the center. Piled ice on top of the crates 

 nearly to top of car, in some places quite ; then had several cakes left, 

 which I put in the passage-way and on the small crates which were put 

 there too. Returned to Sacramento on the 2d, having sent telegrams 

 to all the consignees. Had the car taken around to ice-house and took 

 on only a little over a ton of ice, as there was no room for any more 

 without blocking up the whole car, which I could not think was neces- 

 sary. 



"Besides the salmon eggs which consisted of thirty-nine erates, to be 

 distributed by the express company, there were twelve crates for Mr. 

 Fred Mather to take charge of. We understood from Professor Baird's 

 telegram that he wanted the eggs for Europe packed in separate lots of 

 25,000 each, and so packed them. We gave the Netherlands 100,000, 

 as he directed ; England, 50,000; France, 50,000; Germany, 50,000; 

 Prussia, 50,000. The orders Professor Baird sent we cut down about 50 

 per cent. ; that is, the larger ones. Those for 50,000 and 100,000 we did 

 not cut down. 



" Very truly, yours, 



"KIRBY B. PRATT." 



On the 7th of October the eggs for New Zealand and Australia were 

 sent to San Francisco to go on the steamer leaving that point on the 

 9th of October. 



In the mean time and as long as the state of the river permitted, Mr. 

 Green continued to fish and take eggs, and succeeded so well that sev- 

 eral new lots were sent off and a balance of over 2,000,000 left to be 

 hatched and returned to the tributaries of the Sacramento. 



It may not be out of i^lace to mention here that although the salmon 

 are increasing in the Sacramento,* it is nevertheless true that the yearly 



* "Salmon have been more plentiful in the Sacramento this year than ever before, 

 and never has such a vast quantity of salmon been taken." — (Letter from Hon. B. 

 B. Redding, secretary of California Fish Commission, dated October 1, 1677.) 

 51 F 



