12 Report of the American 



SALMON BKEEDING ON THE McCLOUD— SEASON OF 1873. 

 We began our work on the MeCloud river in 1873, on the 18th dav of 

 Julj. The year before, om- dwelling house, hatching works, and in fact 

 everything appertaining to oui- camp were located at a considerable dis- 

 tance from the river, in order that we might avail ourselves of the use of 

 the water from a brook, which at that time, in our inexperieuce. we con- 

 sidered the only safe water we could employ for hatchiug purposes. The 

 disadvantages of this location were very great. The brook water had a 

 very fluctuating temperatm-e, besides being limited and insufficient in its 

 supply, and sometimes roily. The distance from the river caused a gi-eat • 

 waste of time and labor in going to and fi-om the fishing grounds, which 

 was an inconvenience particularly ii-ksome when we had salmon egos to 

 bring to the hatching works : and, to add to the discomforts of the place, 

 it was often intolerably hot where our- house stood, the mercury frequently 

 rising as high as 110 degrees in the shade, and standing for days 

 together through the afternoon at 105 degrees. This last year (1873) I 

 resolved to use the river water if possible, so as to bring the fishing 

 grounds and hatching works together, and also to obtain a larger and 

 more ti'ustworthy supply of hatching water. Accordingly, on arriving at 

 the river last summer we moved our house and hatching works from theii- 

 former location down to the bank of the McCloud. and immediately 

 began digging a ditch from a higher point of the river to a spot which we 

 had previously selected for the hatchiug house. Although we had before 

 this surveyed the ground, and thought the attempt practicable, we found 

 so many obstacles to its successful prosecution that we changed base 

 once more, and determined to put a large wheel into the river cuii-ent at 

 one of its most rapid portions, and to pump up from the river the water 

 intended for the maturing of the salmon eggs. The wheel, which was 

 furnished with a series of buckets around its cu-cumference for lifting the 

 water, was a perfect success in every respect, and worked the whole 

 season to our entire satisfaction. It raised over G.OOO gallons of river 

 water an hour, and to such a height that we could have om- hatching 

 troughs as far from the ground as we pleased, which alone was a gi-eat 

 convenience. ^Vhile the wheel was being built, work was pushed "with 

 all possible dispatch in other departments, so that on the 19th of August 

 our dwelling house was finished, the water was runniug merrily thro°igh 

 the troughs of the hatchiug house, several corrals aud ponds' had been 

 built, three or four hundred salmon had been caught and corralled in 

 them, aud we were ready for the first instabneut of s^ilmon eggs. 



cm CAMP. 

 At this point a few words about our camp and work aud sm-rouudings 

 may perhaps be not inappropriate. The McCloud river, on which the 



