IL' mi: 



I I -II WJ 



;i of the li-.li ii" 1 .-. in cur r 

 r rill «l. 



few .-ii' l t.» 



! Bah, after 



irticolai rivulet in which th< 



< h the particular spot and the parent bed of 

 able dai 



ad leap by th<' hour ti the 



led by which the fish can i 



mi will be without fish. A fish 



iffair that it would ieeng that men 



would, if infori rithout Hi' 1 requirei of a 



ladder for u intain streams is made 



in ii both ends, four feet wide and thi 



i i ed .-it ill'' top "f tlf dam, the other end oded 



in the center of the poo] below the dam. In the inside <>f the boi 



• if plank about four feet apart, placed trans- 

 Ued "riffles." Bach riffle i^ about a font high. 'I files '1<> not 



iy about two-thirds 'I'" illustrate: 



if tl ide "f I he bOI :it :i right angle t'i 



it v. '1 thirt; '. four feel above, will be fastened 



ii<l thirty inchi it : and so on. alternately, 



until thi I. The water passing into the top of thi ight by 



erted right and left by them until it reaches the stream below. 



ming up th" stream to the dam seek and explore every crevice and 



viriL' wh< -. If tli'- lower end of the fish way is placed near the 



center of the pool below the dam, they readily find it. and immediately enter it. 



o if the ladder is placed at g at an angle as forty-five degrees, the fish have 

 no difficulty in % through it; they will jump through almost any current a 



four feet, ;i;. i each riffle gives them a resting place behind which they 

 recover for the next jump. At one dam on a tributary of the Truckee a mill owner 

 ed to put in a fish way, at the earnest solicitation of one of the Commis- 

 sioners, and to prevent the expenses of a suit. He said the law was an infringement 

 of his rights, and when the Legislature passed an act to compel him to spend money 

 in such foolish bu hey should have appointed a schoolmaster to teach the 



trout how to use the contrivance; he did not believe a fish could be coaxed to go 

 near it. The ni • ning after the fish way was placed in position the fish were 



pas very few minutes; the mill owner became a convert to the practical use 



of fish ways. He soon tore away the cheap and temporary affair built to comply 

 with the law under compulsion, and has erected in its place a substantial ladder 

 that will last for years. A fish ladder is but an artificial imitation of the means by 

 which river fish in their annual migration pass up rapids. After reaching the foot 

 of a rapid the fish rest ; they will then suddenly dart up the stream and seek shelter 

 in the slack water behind some rocks ; here, after more rest, as if to recover strength 

 for the next great exertion, they will dart again and get behind another rock ; and 



•>n, until the rapid is passed. From the description given of an ordinary fish 

 ladder, it will be seen that they are easily built and that the cost is but a trifle. 

 The average cost of all fish ladders in Maine, including permanent stone structures 

 over manufacturing darns, does not reach two hundred dollars. Many statistics have 

 been kept showing the increase of fish as a result from the construction of fish ladders, 

 especially in Great Britain. As an illustration, I quote from the report of Charles 

 G. Atkins, Esq., Fish Commissioner of Maine. In comparing the salmon fisheries 

 of Europe with those of Maine, he says : ''Their fisheries were nearly exhausted 

 through excessive fishing and the erection of barriers, and by a careful management, 

 including the construction of fish ways, have been made to yield large returns. I will 

 instance the river Galway in Ireland. The salmon fisheries of the Galway are owned 



