1882. } FISH COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. 11 
fish are confined, and the spawn taken, the present location is 
hardly to be improved upon. The cars in which the salmon are 
conveyed from the place of capture, are taken directly into the 
enclosure, and there the fish are turned out without injury or trou- 
ble. The water in which they await their accouchment is excel- 
lent, the barriers are substantial and safe, and the shape of the 
enclosure,—long and narrow,—favors the recapture of the fish in 
October. This part of the work is in the town of Bucksport, but 
to secure the best site for a hatching, or rather developing house, 
we had to locate this part of the establishment at Craig’s Brook, a 
mile and a half further eastward, in the town of Orland. Here 
we have command of a stream of water unsurpassed in purity 
among all the waters of my acquaintance, an ample fall, and free- 
dom from all danger of freshets. The brook is the outlet of 
Craig’s Pond, but it receivés the water of so many tributary 
Springs that its temperature at the hatching-house in 1879 and 
1880, ranged so high as to force us to ship the most of our eggs 
in December. To avoid this difficulty, we have this year built a 
cement aqueduct with a four inch bore, 1,600 feet in length, 
which brings us an ample supply, of cooler water from a point 
above the springs. I do not think it will be necessary to ship any 
of the eggs this season before January. The spring water is still 
at command as before, and can be used when needed. 
Our breeding salmon, were bought, as usual, in the month of 
June. The whole number obtained was 513. Of these 5: died 
before reaching the enclosure, and 141 are known to have died in 
the enclosure within a short time after capture. This excessive 
mortality I believe to be caused by the character of the nets used 
in dipping them, and another season we shall return to the cloth 
bags, which were formerly in use and gave better results. There 
were left in the enclosure, according to our memoranda, at the be- 
ginning of the spawning season, 367 fish. These were all captured 
with the exception of 4, whose fate could not be determined. Of 
the 363 captured, 232 were females, and 131 males. 
The fish were uncommonly large this year—surpassing all pre- 
vious experience, in fact. The females yielded about 11,000 eggs 
each, amounting to a total of 2,550,000. Closer estimates are 
more likely to raise than lower these figures. As the losses on 
Penobscot salmon eggs are generally light, I think I am quite 
within bounds in assuming 2,462,000 as the dividend. On this 
basis, the division of the harvest will be as follows : 
