40 SALMONID^. 



estate, wliile the latter have passed to the degree of smolt, 

 and now for th^ first time begin to feel the monitions of that 

 instinct which will presently direct them to the sea: To 

 the naturalist and the angler the habits of the salmon afford 

 a study which never wearies, but which renews itself in 

 brighter colors and more glowing attractions with the advent 

 of each returning spring. 



As an article of food and commerce the value of the sal- 

 mon can hardly be appreciated, though much more now 

 than in those earlier days when they sold for a penny a-piece 

 on the Tay, or in the latter century, when laborers on our 

 own Connecticut were wont to stipulate that their landladies 

 should not give them salmon rations oftener than twice a 

 week ! It is only when we enter into investigations of the 

 statistical information on record, that we be,gin to conceive its 

 magnitude. In the United Kingdom the salmon production 

 is stated to be over 2,000,000 lbs. per year, equal to 400,000 

 lbs. of mutton. In the Dominion of Canada the production 

 for the year 1871 was nearly four million and a half of 

 pounds, divided between the Provinces as follows: New 

 Brunswick, 1,608,496 lbs. ; Nova Scotia, 1,286,979 ; Quebec, 

 including Labrador, 1,425,200. The salmon fisheries of 

 Newfoundland constitute a very considerable item in the 

 general account. On the Pacific coast the production of 

 salmon for export is a comparatively new branch of industiy. 

 The annual yield is enormous, and forms the principal food 

 and support of all the Indian tribes of the coast and. the in- 

 terior bordering the water-courses. With the extension of 

 the Northern Pacific Railroad to Puget's Sound, this quan- 

 tity will be multiplied many fold, and doubtless legal restric- 

 tions will be instituted to protect the fisheries of the entire 

 Pacific region, and prevent the enormous waste that now re- 

 sults from direct and natural causes. The export returns, 

 actual and estimated, for the past year, show a total of 

 100,000 lbs., and a commercial value of $40,000. 



