Sixth Annual Meeting. 65 



its purpose, and an appropriation was made for the propagation 

 and placed under my charge as Commissioner to disburse. 



Feeling my ignorance of the theory and practice of fish 

 culture, knowing a little about fishes themselves as to their 

 zoological characteristics, but nothing about the mode of multi- 

 plying them, I considered it my duty and pleasure to counsel 

 with the Fish Culturists' Association and the Commissioners of 

 the States present ; and I spoke to them and asked them what I 

 should better do, in what way the best measures could be taken to 

 increase the fish supply of the country. Two propositions were 

 made : one that a certain portion of the appropriation should be 

 expended in assisting the enterprise of obtaining the eggs of 

 salmon from Maine, and the other that we should send some 

 one out to California for the purpose of obtaining eggs from 

 their fish, as it was known that eggs could be had there more 

 readily and in larger numbers than in the East. Both of those 

 suggestions were adopted. Mr. Atkins, then at work on the 

 Penobscot River, was requested to enlarge his fisheries to enable 

 us to cover the ground we desired, which was to be done out of 

 the funds at my disposal ; and Mr. Stone, now present with us, 

 went out to California to organize the California salmon enter- 

 prise ; and beginning on a small scale at first, with 2,000 eggs, the 

 capacity of the establishment has increased in consequence of 

 his admirable management of it, until now it is capable of 

 furnishing at least 15,000,000 eggs every year, which more 

 than equals in the aggregate that of all the European salmon- 

 producing establishments together. 



I presume it will be agreeable to the meeting to hear 

 something of the general operations of the United States Com- 

 mission with regard to its measures for fish propagation, and I 

 will proceed to sketch briefly what they are, and will then refer 

 you to Mr. Milner, who has the shad department more especially 



