930 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



" Plymouth,' February 22, 1878. 

 *' Samitel Webber, Esq. : 



" Dear Sir : It is with pleasure that I answer your inquiries in regard 

 to the salmon that came up the Pemigewasset Eiver this season. And 

 at the same time allow me to congratulate you ui^on the complete suc- 

 cess that has attended the labors of the Massachusetts and IS^ew Hamp- 

 shire commissioners in thek attempts to restock our beautiful river with 

 the king of fish, the JSalino solar. 



"The work is no longer an experiment, but an assured success, as not 

 a single salmon has been seen in the Pemigewasset until this year since 

 the erection of the dam at Lawrence some thirty years ago. That they 

 have returned this year in large numbers is beyond a doubt. And this fact 

 must be a source of congratulation to the gentlemen who had charge of 

 the work of transferring the young fry from the hatching house at Win- 

 chester to the headwaters of the Pemigewasset and Baker's Rivers, as they 

 no doubt will remember the discouragement and even ridicule they met 

 with from the time they would leave Winchester until the cans were 

 emptied into the river. It is impossible to say at what time the first 

 salmon made their appearance at Livermore's Falls, as no one was look- 

 ing for them. 



" On my return from New Brunswick the last of June, I learned that the 

 salmon were passing the fish- way at Lawrence. I immediately requested 

 the Messrs. Tompkinsou, at the falls, to watch for them. The first one 

 was seen about the 1st of July. It was a full-grown fish about 3 feet 

 in length, and for several weeks following there was hardly a day but 

 what they could be seen in their endeavors to pass over the falls. I 

 have counted from eight to ten in an hour, but do not think they were 

 different fish, for it was very seldom that one would pass the rapids at 

 the first attempt. Many of them would make leaps of 10 to 15 feet and 

 pass up, but if they fell short of that they would be carried back into 

 the pool below. It is impossible to say how many j)assed the falls, but 

 there must have been some hundreds. They were seen all along the 

 river as far up as the Woodstock dam, but as far as I can learn, and I 

 have made careful inquiries, none have been sent above that point. 

 The young salmon went many miles above there this season. 



" Full-grown fish, that is, from 2 to 3 feet in length, were seen by 

 many from the bridge in this village during July, and at the falls as 

 late as November. 



"There must be more stringent measures taken to prevent the de- 

 struction of the small salmon by fishermen, as they were taken by hun- 

 dreds this season. 



"I remain, respectfully, yours, 



"E. B. HODGE." 



We have given Mr. Hodge's letter exactly as received, but other ad- 

 vices lead us to believe that the heavy rains of the first week of Sep- 

 tember, 1877, carried away so large a part of the dam at Woodstock as 



