CULTIVATION OF A SALMON RIVER. 57 



CHAPTER V. 



CULTIVATION OF A SALMON RIVER, 



I shall now proceed in my endeavour to describe 

 what I consider to be requisite for the practical and 

 successful cultivation of a salmon river, as I only wish 

 to apply pratical principles to the subject. In the 

 cultivation of land both skill and capital are indis- 

 pensable requisites; the soil has to be ploughed and 

 manured, and the seeds sown and cared for before the 

 crop can be reaped ; the cattle and sheep must be 

 watched, protected, and fed with great care, in order 

 to produce profitable results ; we will consider a river 

 to be a "fish farm," requiring an analogous treatment 

 in order to produce similar results, and the question 

 arises, how is this to be effected ? 



Upon the subject of artificially propagating salmon 

 much has of late years been said and done. I have 

 tried this system myself for many years, and have 

 assisted others also, and in consequence much valu- 

 able information respecting the natural history and 

 habits of this fish has been obtained; but as to re- 

 sults we possess no very accurate means of ascertain- 

 ing their profitable effect, since the young fish can 

 only be protected and detained in confinement till 

 their instinct requires that they should be liberated 

 and allowed to migrate with thousands of others to 

 the sea, In considering the effect of any practical 

 amount of artificial propagation of salmon compared 

 with the natural process adopted by the parent fish 

 itself, it will be requisite to estimate firstly, the quan- 

 tity of ova that a given number of adult fish annually 



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