482 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [6] 
result was excellent, as very few eggs failed to be fecundated. This 
mode of procedure, which constitutes the so-called “dry” method par 
excellence, is at the present day generally employed throughout the 
United States.“ Its advantage over the ‘‘moist” method will easily be 
understood when one calls to mind the rapidity with which the sperma- 
tozoa of the milt lose their vitality when diluted with water." 
In operating on so large a scale Mr. Atkins occasionally found it dif- 
ficult to procure the number of male and female fish, ready to spawn, 
which he needed for his artificial fecundation. He therefore took care 
to “park” in advance (according to the necessity of the case five or six 
months, and according to the number of fish caught in the Penobscot 
River) a large number of salmon.” These salmon are kept imprisoned 
till the moment they begin to spawn, when they are caught again for 
the purpose of gathering eggs and milt. At first they were placed free 
in a pond of an area of 24 hectares, but with this extent of water it be- 
came very difficult to catch them at the exact time when they were 
needed. It therefore became necessary to “park” them in a more lim- 
ited space. <A wire barrier extended across the pond only left them 
about 4 hectares; but as this barrier was not strong enough to offer 
resistance to powerful fish, which always found means of forcing a pas- 
sage, it had to be replaced by a permanent barrier or wall of clay. 
More recently, a small watercourse, a tributary of the Penobscot 
River, the Dead Brook, has been used for “ parking” these reproducing 
fish. In this water-course an inclosure has been made by means of two 
barriers across the stream, formed of poles, placed in such a manner as to 
keep the salmon imprisoned whilst leaving a free passage for the water. 
In this inclosure are placed all the live salmon which can be procured 
during the season when fishing is permitted. These salmon are bought 
13Tt is, as we have seen before, also very generally employed in Germany, and is the 
only method actually followed at Hiiningen. 
It should be mentioned that several practical pisciculturists have by their experi- 
ments been led to identical resnlts. Mr. Seth Green one of the veterans of American 
pisciculture, has followed the ‘‘dry” method for a long time, the process of which he 
has for several years kept secret. The employment of this method gave him a de- 
cided advantage over other pisciculturists who followed the ‘‘moist” method, and in- 
variably sustained losses by large numbers of their eggs not becoming fecundated. 
44From experiments made by our eminent vice-president, M. de Quatrefages, it ap- 
pears that the vitality of the spermatozoa only lasts— 
imetheimiltiof the: barbell. seu. sids-cdhles ona tastaese sae eeleainee tice ie ce eeaeee 213.0!" 
Infthe niiltiof the perch...../.0tc25.ssectes geepeeae sec as seeeioase eeeeeseieeee 2' 40” 
Inythewmilt of, the carp’. ...s<..6io5..\ aja Se eee ene eee ena eee eee By 
Inithemiltio£, theiroach «20.4 24.606 e ebses cae see e eee Se eee ee Eee rte 3/ 10” 
Inithe:milt-of the pike... oc. sce. sci as cee case tases eaeysonisseye tees eee ae 8’ 10’ 
The above figures, however, must be considered as maxima, which are 10t always 
attained. (Memoir read at the Academy of Sciences May, 1853.) 
1° In Switzerland live salmon are sometimes brought in close proximity to the places 
where they were to spawn; or salmon ready to spawn have been kept “‘ parked” for a 
few days so as to procure eggs or milt for artificial fecundation; but nowhere, as far 
as we know, have grown salinon been kept captive as long as at Bucksport for the 
purpose of procuring a sufficient number of reproducers. 
