﻿VIII.— 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  OPERATIONS 
  AT 
  THE 
  U. 
  S. 
  SALMON 
  AND 
  

   TROUT 
  STATIONS 
  ON 
  THE 
  McCLOUD 
  RIVER, 
  CALIFORNIA, 
  FOR 
  

   THE 
  YEAR 
  1885. 
  

  

  By 
  Livingston 
  .Stonk. 
  

  

  SALMON. 
  

  

  Everything 
  at 
  this 
  station 
  remains 
  in 
  very 
  much 
  the 
  same 
  condition 
  

   as 
  at 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  my 
  last 
  report, 
  active 
  operations 
  not 
  having 
  been 
  car- 
  

   ried 
  on 
  here 
  during 
  this 
  year. 
  

  

  All 
  parties 
  agree 
  in 
  reporting 
  a 
  very 
  small 
  run 
  of 
  salmon 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  

   this 
  year. 
  Indeed, 
  salmon 
  appear 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  scarcer 
  than 
  ever 
  be- 
  

   fore 
  in 
  the 
  McCloud 
  Eiver. 
  This 
  scarcity 
  was 
  probably 
  caused 
  partly 
  

   by 
  the 
  illegal 
  small-mesh 
  fishing 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  and 
  Portuguese 
  in 
  the 
  

   Sacramento, 
  partly 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  sea-lions 
  at 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  

   the 
  Sacramento 
  River, 
  and 
  partly 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  draft 
  upon 
  the 
  salmon 
  

   supply 
  which 
  is 
  made 
  by 
  the 
  numerous 
  canneries 
  on 
  the 
  river. 
  

  

  The 
  effect 
  of 
  these 
  destructive 
  agencies 
  upon 
  the 
  supply 
  of 
  salmon 
  in 
  

   the 
  river 
  was 
  not 
  felt 
  so 
  long 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  being 
  offset 
  by 
  artificial 
  propaga- 
  

   tion 
  ; 
  but 
  now 
  that 
  this 
  has 
  been 
  suspended 
  or 
  nearly 
  suspended 
  for 
  two 
  

   or 
  three 
  years, 
  the 
  diminution 
  of 
  salmon 
  in 
  the 
  Sacramento 
  is 
  becom- 
  

   ing 
  alarmingly 
  apparent, 
  and 
  unless 
  something 
  is 
  speedily 
  done 
  on 
  a 
  

   large 
  scale, 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  of 
  hatching 
  salmon 
  and 
  placing 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  Sac- 
  

   ramento 
  or 
  its 
  tributaries, 
  the 
  river 
  will 
  soon 
  be 
  depleted 
  of 
  its 
  most 
  

   valuable 
  fish. 
  

  

  TROUT. 
  

  

  After 
  the 
  date 
  of 
  my 
  last 
  report 
  (October 
  1, 
  1884) 
  nothing 
  of 
  special 
  

   interest 
  occurred 
  at 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  trout-breeding 
  station 
  on 
  the 
  

   McCloud 
  Eiver 
  until 
  about 
  Christmas 
  time, 
  when 
  one 
  of 
  those 
  terrific 
  

   rain-storms 
  peculiar 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  Sierra 
  Nevada 
  range 
  vis- 
  

   ited 
  the 
  McCloud 
  River. 
  It 
  rained 
  in 
  such 
  torrents 
  and 
  the 
  river 
  and 
  

   trout-pond 
  creek 
  rose 
  so 
  rapidly 
  as 
  to 
  cause 
  considerable 
  alarm 
  for 
  the 
  

   safety 
  of 
  the 
  trout 
  and 
  the 
  station. 
  Mr. 
  Green, 
  the 
  superintendent 
  of 
  

   the 
  station, 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  written 
  on 
  the 
  spot, 
  speaks 
  of 
  the 
  storm 
  as 
  follows: 
  

  

  "December 
  25, 
  1884. 
  — 
  It 
  has 
  rained 
  all 
  the 
  time 
  since 
  I 
  wrote 
  you 
  be- 
  

   fore, 
  and 
  indications 
  are 
  of 
  another 
  flood. 
  The 
  water 
  in 
  the 
  river 
  is 
  

   getting 
  up 
  near 
  the 
  house, 
  the 
  large 
  rocks 
  in 
  front 
  are 
  all 
  covered, 
  and 
  

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