78 



and eight and a half pounds in weight. One important 

 fact in the habits ot the salmon has been demonstrated 

 by the use of these tags, and that is, that the fish, after 

 it becomes large, does not visit the river every year, as 

 was formerly supposed, but only every second year. 

 Those liberated in the Penobscot in 1873, were recap- 

 tured in 1875, and those let loose in 1875 are now being 

 caught. One dollar premium is paid for every tag thus 

 found. The Penobscot river about Bangor is reported 

 to be full of young salmon." 



But it is very probable that both California and Pen- 

 obscot salmon will spawn in fresh water if they have 

 fair range, that is to say, a pond of good size. In Iowa, 

 see Report of '75-7, p. 12, the Eastern salmon when in 

 a pond, were said to have grown in two years and a half 

 to weigh from two and a half to seven pounds ; if this 

 is so, and these were not salmon trout, there is no reason 

 the California salmon should not grow as large, or nearly 

 so, 



COLOR. A trout is al ways the color of the bottom 

 over which it lies; and in passing from one color of bot- 

 tom to another, it will change in a minute. The trout 

 in deep and shaded pools are notoriously deeper in color, 

 or rather darker than those in shallow, bright waters ; and 

 they not only look darker while they are in the water, 

 but stay darker when they are removed. The trout- 

 raiser must make his ponds accordingly : shallow and 

 exposed if he wishes light-colored trout ; deep and 

 shaded if he wishes a darker color. Fish often become 

 blind from various reasons in the ponds, and when they 

 do so they turn very dark black, one would almost 

 say by comparison with the others. The cause of this 

 is not clearly understood, and it would suggest that the 

 fish have control over their own color and adapt it to 



