940 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



season of their spawning. Whether others have been taken by persona 

 ignorant of their kind, we know not. It is fair to suppose, however, 

 that not all those that returiiecl from the sea were taken. Many, meas- 

 uring from to 12 inches, have also been caught the past season with 

 the hook. 



The commissioners also report an enormous increase from the black 

 bass that they have previously distributed in various waters, and ex- 

 ecllout fishing obtained from this soiuce. They have distributed nearly 

 10,000 of these fish this year, besides 4,230,000 shad-fry, 400,000 smelts, 

 and 250,000 California salmon, and are now earnestly at work on fish- 

 ways. (New Hampshire fish commission report, 1878, pp. 29, 30.) 



PENNSYLYANIA. 



Atlantic salmon. — The Free Press, of Easton, Pa., under date of Novem- 

 ber 10, 1877, says: 



"We referred briefly yesterday to a salmon being captured in the 

 Bushkill, and have since verified the report. 



"The fish was discovered in Groetzinger's mill-race, on the Bushkill, 

 at the foot of Fourth street, ant^ts unusual size immediately attracted 

 the attention of a number of people, who resorted to various devices for 

 its capture. Hooks and lines were used, and it was hooked but broke 

 loose. It was also shot with bird-shot. This did not kill it. It was 

 finally shot with a rifle by a young man named James Young, the 

 bullet passing into its body and stomach just at the junction of the head 

 and body, and the strange fish was secured. Mr. Young presented his 

 prize to his uncle, Mr. J. E. Stair, and it was very generally believed to 

 be a salmon. Mr. Stair appreciated its important bearing on certain 

 mooted points of the history and habits of this fish, and, in the interest 

 of fish culture, thoughtfully placed it at the disposal of Fish Commis- 

 sioner Howard J. Eeeder. 



"The point at issue with scientific men, referring to salmon, is whether 

 this fish placed in rivers as far south as the Delaware and Susquehanna 

 will, with the instinct, of their class, return to the grounds where they 

 were hatched, and as nothing but experiment will prove this, the im- 

 portance of all evidence bearing upon the controversy will be realized. 

 At different tiiyes during the past four years a great many thousand 

 salmon eggs and salmon fry have been dejiosited in the Bushkill and 

 Delaware Eivets, under the supervision of Commissioner Eeeder, and 

 at various times reports have been circulated of salmon of considerable 

 size being caught at Bordentown, Trenton, Carpenter's Point, and other 

 points on the Delaware, ranging from five to eight pounds weight ; but, 

 unfortunately, these have fallen into the hands that did not perceive 

 anything in the fact beyond the table, and their evidence was lost to 

 the scientific world. But this fish is a fact, and in oflicial hands will be 

 irrefutable evidence that the stocking of our rivers with the most valu- 

 able fish in the world is not visionary, but practicable." (Eeport fish 

 commissioners Pennsylvania, 1878, p. 9.) 



