Fish Culturists' Association. 27 



over the pond a large number escaped capture in the fall, and many of 

 them stole into a diminutive tributary, temporarily swollen b}' heavj' 

 rains, and laid their eggs before they were discovered. In 1873 the 

 enclosure contained about ten acres, and was made by stretching across 

 the mouth of a cove a strong net, held down at the bottom b}' the weight 

 of a heavy chain, and at the top tied to stakes several feet above the 

 surface of the water. This proved prett}' effectual, and but very few 

 escaped. 



The inclosure includes the outlet of the pond which is commanded by 

 a dam. At the spawning season a gate about a foot square is kept open 

 and the salmon have free access to it. In their anxiety to find running 

 water in which to spawn they run through this gate and fall immediately 

 into a trap, which leads them through a long, narrow sluice in a grated 

 pen whence the}' are taken to be manipulated. Natural instincts are not, 

 however, strong enough to impel all the salmon to enter this narrow 

 place, and seines are used to drive or catch the reluctant. 



The spawning season begins the last week in October and continues 

 until the middle of November. These, I think, w^ould be the extreme 

 limits with these fish if they had free access to a large, natural spawning- 

 bed, but under the unnatural conditions to which thev are subjected they 

 in many cases retain their eggs till a later date. A female confined in a 

 pen on a board floor has retained her eggs for three weeks after they were 

 ripe. The two sexes are found together at this season, and though no 

 attempt has been made to distinguish one sex from another, in June, 

 when the}- are collected, the females have alwa3's been found to exceed 

 the males in number at the spawning season. In 1873 the ratio of the 

 disparity was almost two to one. This is a fortunate circumstance, and 

 it would be still better if the disproportion were four to one, for there 

 ■would still be an ample suppl}' of milt. 



The salmon that enter the brook of their own accord after the twenty- 

 fifth da}- of October, are, with very few exceptions, found to be fully ripe, 

 and 3'ield at once all of their eggs, except such as lie too far forward to 

 be reached by pressure. The number left in each fi.sh after the first 

 manipulation is from two to five hundred. The seines have never been 

 used to take fish from the ponds earlier than November eighth, so that 

 we have no means of knowing the condition of the fish previous to that 

 date ; but after they were brought into use, the salmon taken in them 

 were fully ripe. My observation leads to the conclusion that the ripening 

 of the eggs of salmon occurs, in all individuals inhabiting the same 

 waters, at about the same time, and that in cases where the eggs are not 

 deposited until after November tenth in the latitude of Bucksport, the 

 delay is commonly owing to some other circumstance than the im- 

 maturity of the eggs. 



