Fish Cidturists' Association. 21 



careful thought and the exercise of as much foresight in regard to the 

 journe}' as we could bring to bear upon the subject, and even now, after 

 plenty of leisure for reflection, I do not know of any other practicable 

 method of packing salmon eggs, which are to be sent this overland jour- 

 ney without an attendant, which secures as many favorable combinations 

 or which is not open to quite as many objections as the one adopted. 

 Indeed, I think the results were a decided vindication of the merits of the 

 packing. The first lot forwarded in September was undoubted^ destroyed 

 by the heat. The second lot arrived in as good order as could be 

 expected. The third lot was reported to arrive in excellent condition, 

 and the fourth and last lot came the best of all. 



Of those sent to Great Salt Lake, distant a thousand miles, onl}' three 

 per cent, were lost. What more could be asked of the packing? A 

 method that will carr^- salmon eggs a thousand miles with a loss of only 

 three per cent, cannot be a very bad one. Seth Green reports a loss on 

 the 200,000 eggs consigned to him of onh' eleven per cent, both in trans- 

 portation and in hatching. This certainly does not seem to reflect an}- 

 discredit on the packing of the eggs, and when we remember that they 

 came from a climate where the mercury- stood 110 degrees in the shade, 

 and that the}' were conveyed twenty- two miles in a wagon, to begin with, 

 over a very rough mountain road, and after that 3,000 miles by rail, I 

 think it is rather creditable to the packing than otherwise. I am open to 

 conviction, however, and if there is any better way of packing the salmon 

 eggs for their overland journey, I should like to know it, and should 

 be thankful for any light on the subject. I should be glad to hear the 

 subject discussed. 



COST OF THE EGGS. 



The cost of getting the ova and preparing them for transportation was 

 about $4,000. There were very nearly- 1,500,000 impregnated eggs in 

 good condition for shipment. This makes the cost of the eggs at the 

 hatching' works $2.66 a thousand. I think in future with the experience 

 that has been acquired, and with the work that has already been accom- 

 plished, that it is highly probable that the eggs can be got out at a still 

 less expense, and I should not be surprised in the event of the undertak- 

 ing being repeated on the McCloud river anothei- year, if 5,000,000 eggs 

 could be obtained at a cost of $5,000, or at the rate of a dollar a 

 thousand. 



I beg to say in conclusion that the particulars of the first McCloud 

 expedition for salmon eggs are printed in the report of the U. S. Fish 

 Commission for 1872. The details of the Clear Lake experiment, of 

 the overland trip with shad, and the operations on the McCloud river 



