Fish Cultvrists' Association. 9 



is an event, the significance of which we shall better comprehend a 

 few years hence, when the fish shall have found a congenial home in 

 all of our southern waters. Though this fish has been known to 

 commerce ever since California was settled, it was not known 

 whether it was the same species as our eastern salmon, or something 

 diflferent. There can be very little doubt but that it is a distinct 

 species, quite as valuable for food as the " salar," and with some 

 peculiarities adapting it to our southern and western waters. 



Mr. Livingston Stone, secretary of the association, who had had 

 some experience in taking salmon spawn on the Miramichi river in 

 New Brunswick, was sent to the Pacific coast to secure salmon eggs 

 of the Sacramento variety. Mr. Stone supposed, as did also the 

 California Fish Commissioners, that their salmon spawned late in 

 October, but to be in ample time he went to McCloud river, one of 

 the feeders of the Sacramento, early in September, and immediately 

 made the usual preparations to take spawn. The fish were abundant, 

 but to his surprise he found that the spawning season was almost 

 past, and he was unable to obtain more than 20,000 or 30,000 eggs. 

 These were shipped eastward, and are now at the hatching-house of 

 Dr. J. H. Slack, in New Jersey. Many of them hatched out on the 

 way, and those that survived are destined to the Susquehanna river. 

 The eggs are nearly twice the size of " salmo-salar." This fact, and 

 the earlier spawning season, and the premature hatching of the eggs, 

 are pretty clear indications of a different species. 



Prof. Baird says : " The importance of this experiment with Sacra- 

 mento fish may be understood from the fact that their breeding 

 grounds on the river are in a region of very high summer temperature, 

 reaching at noon from 100 degrees to 110 degrees Fahrenheit, for a 

 considerable distance. Therefore, while eastern salmon are not 

 likely to thrive west of the Connecticut, oi- at most of the Hudson, there 

 is every reason to believe that the Sacramento fish can be introduced 

 into nearly if not quite all of our rivers on the Atlantic coast; and 

 we have every confidence that the time is not far distant when we 

 shall have in the Delaware, the Susquehanna, the Potomac and the 

 James an ample supply of these delicious fish, as well as in more 

 nothern and eastern waters." 



Another marked event of the year, and one that ought to have 

 been much earlier known, is the introduction of Mr. Brackett's trays, 

 as a substitute for Costie's boxes and all other contrivances tor hatch- 

 ing eggs, and keeping them clean while i»cubating. JSTothing, we 



