FI SH IN a. 



The Salmon. 



THIS most delicious of fish sometimes grows to 

 an immense size for a frequenter of fresh water. 

 Some isolated specimens in Scotland are said to have 

 attained from seventy to eighty pounds. The usual 

 length of the salmon, however, is from two to three 

 and a half feet, and its weight varies from twenty to 

 thirty-two pounds. They are of a silvery gray color 

 on the sides, spotted with irregular reddish spots 

 the belly is white, and the back a dark blue. When 

 first taken from the water its colors are beautiful. 

 Salmon begin to run up certain Northern rivers in 

 April, and stay there until the latter end of July, 

 when they return to the sea. It is while thus run- 

 ning that they are taken by anglers and salmon fish- 

 ermen. They deposit their spawn at the extreme 

 point that they reach on the river, and by the time 

 they return, the young fry are ready to return with 

 them. The same young ones follow their parents up 

 the river the year following, having grown to be 

 about six inches in length. At the end of the second 

 year they weigh from five to seven pounds, and it 

 takes them six years to attain their growth. 



