NOTES ON THE TAKING OF QUINNAT SALMON 
EGGS. 
BY WARD T. BOWER. 
The quinnat and other salmons of the Pacific are now well 
established as a staple article of food throughout most civilized 
countries ; and to the extent that they can be produced at a rea- 
sonable price to the consumer, the demand for this valuable 
food staple is certain to grow as population increases. It is evi- 
dent, therefore, that to maintain a normal balance between con- 
sumption and supply, the latter must be greatly increased as 
time goes on. The future of an important source of food wealth 
presents a serious economic problem, the solution of which it is 
now generally conceded depends in a great measure on fish cul- 
tural effort. 
Assuming then that the future of the salmon industry rests 
quite largely on hatchery propagation, it is timely to inquire 
whether production in this way may not be substantially in- 
creased through improved methods that practically eliminate 
all loss prior to the eyeing stage of the ova and, though perhaps 
of less importance, incidentally effect substantiat economies in 
the cost. 
My experience in salmon culture leads to a positive convic- 
tion that the single feature of releasing the ripe ova by incision 
and gravity rather than by expression, effects a saving of 5 to 
15% of the ova and reduces the cost of production to the eyeing 
stage at least 33 1-3%. It is this point that form the basis of the 
account which follows. Barring perhaps some minor details, no 
claim is made to originality, for taking salmon eggs by incision 
has been tried in various ways by others, though perhaps not on 
so large a scale and during a full season’s operations. It is the 
purpose to describe briefly what may be termed the old and the 
improved way, make comparisons and submit the results as evi- 
dence of the superiority of the one over the other. 
In the fall of 1903 and again in 1g04, the writer was in im- 
mediate charge of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries Sub-station at 
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