XIII -REPORT OF OPERATIONS AT THE U. S. SALMON AND 

 TROUT STATIONS ON THE M'CLOUD RIVER, CALIFORNIA, 

 FOR THE YEARS 1885-'87. 



By Livingston Stone. 



SALMON. 



Matters in relation to salmon at this station remain in much the same 

 condition as at the close of my last report. The property was left in 

 charge of Mr. Eobert Radcliff; but, for various reasons, no active oper- 

 ations were carried on during these years. 



TROUT. 



The operations in trout breeding at this station during the past two 

 years developed no new items of special interest. The fishing in the 

 McCloud River for breeders was continued very much the same as in 

 previous years, and the station was conducted according to the same 

 methods as heretofore. 



A few improvements were mado during the year, among which may 

 be mentioned the building of two or three new boats, and the construct- 

 ing of some ponds for growing the young trout, which ponds Mr. Loren 

 W. Green, the superintendent of the station, says are so carefully and 

 securely built that nothing can get iuto or out of them without his 

 knowledge. 



The date of the beginning of the spawning season for the trout in 

 the ponds at this station has receded till now the first eggs are obtained 

 late in December,* the first for this season being 12,500 eggs which 

 were takes on December 26, 1885. Operations in taking eggs continued 

 from this date until May 10, 188G, when the spawning season closed for 

 that year. More than 220,000 eggs were obtained, as shown in Table 

 I, accompanying this report, which were distributed as shown in Table 

 III. In 1S8G-'S7 over 268,000 eggs were taken, of which 184,300 were 

 disposed of as per Table IV. 



This total number of eggs taken in 1SS5-'8G was not so large as usual, 

 owing chiefly to two misfortunes that befell the trout during the year. 

 The first was another outbreak of the mysterious disease described in 



* It nsed to begin in January, 

 [l] S. Mis. 90 -17 737 



