394 Fortieth Annual Meeting 



Eggs buried to a depth of three inches produce alevins 

 that work their way to the surface so gradually that by 

 the time they reach the surface their sacs are so nearly 

 absorbed that many, but not all, resist the effects of fungus. 

 Alevins from eggs buried beneath less than four inches of 

 sand are liable to reach the surface while the sac is so 

 thinly covered that few if any survive the effects of 

 fungus growth. 



The spawning beds of Pacific Coast streams from Cali- 

 fornia to Alaska (to which my observations have been 

 confined), where the salmon spawn in numbers are, during 

 and after the spawning period, covered with more or less 

 vegetable moulds. These moulds are particularly common 

 in the beds of streams where great numbers of salmon have 

 spawned and died. Every experienced fish culturist knows 

 that most waters carry great numbers of spores of fungi, 

 and how difficult it is to prevent eggs and alevins from 

 being attacked and injured by their growth. I believe that 

 in natural propagation fungus growths destroy more sal- 

 mon eggs and alevins than all other causes combined. The 

 vegetable moulds of Pacific streams are not active beneath 

 the surface of the beds of streams. Salmon eggs cast 

 therein, if even thinly covered with sand, are not injured by 

 them. These moulds do not affect fry that have nearly or 

 entirely absorbed their sacs, but they are deadily if per- 

 mitted to attach themselves to either the eggs or the alevins. 



My experiments along this line lead me to express the 

 opinion that by the burial of freshly fertilized salmon eggs 

 under six or seven inches of sand and gravel strong healthy 

 fry can be produced at less cost than under existing hatch- 

 ing methods, and that fry so produced are stronger and 

 more capable of resisting the attacks of their active enemies. 



I trust that this short statement of my experiments in 

 the burial of salmon eggs may be deemed of sufficient 

 economic importance to stimulate fish culturists generally in 

 experimenting along similar lines. Those who do will per- 

 haps experience some difficulty at first in the covering of a 



