50 BULLETIN OP THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



of 12,000 bulls in service, and if these had an average of only 40 cows each provision 

 would be made for a total of 480,000 cows, a number scarcely exceeded in the history of 

 the herd. 



The average number of cows per bull under approximately natural conditions can 

 not be stated exactly, but the best evidence available indicates that it was not less than 

 30 nor more than 40. In the early days of American ownership it was not known that 

 all the cows are not on land at one time, so underestimates were the rule. H. W. Elliott, 

 writing of conditions from 1872 to 1874, says: " 



I found it an exceedingly difficult matter to satisfy myself as to a fair general average number of cows 

 to each bull on the rookery; but, after protracted study, I think it will be nearly correct when I assign 

 to each male a general ratio of from 15 to 20 females at the stations nearest the water, and for those back 

 in order from that line to the rear, from 5 to 12 ; but there are so many exceptional cases, so many instances 

 where 45 and 50 females are all under the charge of i male, and then, again, where there are 2 or 3 females 

 only, that this question was and is not entirely satisfactory in its settlement to my mind. 



Charles Bryant, writing of the same period, says simply, "In the average there are 

 about 15 females to one beach master." * 



More detailed data are available for the years 1896 and 1897, during which the herd 

 was considerably reduced in size, but was supplied with an excessive number of bulls, 

 due to the suspension of killing during the modus vivendi of 1891 to 1893. In 1897, 

 when fairly complete counts were made, there were 4,418 harems by count and 172,288 

 cows by corrected estimate, '^ making an average harem of 38.9. At this time idle bulls 

 were practically equal to harem bulls, and obviously excessive in number, so it is evident 

 the average harem was reduced to a low figure. In view of these facts, and the knowledge 

 that the extreme capacity of the bulls is very much greater, it is safe to say that a supply 

 of harem bulls which provides i to every 40 cows is amply sufficient. The number in 

 1914 was approximately i to every 60 cows, and close observation revealed no evidence 

 that all were not efficient. To have produced an average harem of 40 in 1914 would 

 have required only 772 more harems than were found, so it is apparent that no large 

 reserves are necessary to bring about ideal conditions in the immediate future. If it 

 should be found in practice that the average harem can not be greatly reduced mthout 

 the accompaniment of a great excess of idle bulls, action will necessarily be governed 

 according to circumstances as they develop; but if an intelligent and continued effort 

 is made to provide harem bulls in the approximate proportion of i to 40 cows the result 

 is certain to fulfill all the demands of a policy of conservation. 



IDLE AND YOUNG BULLS. 

 AGE AND CHARACTER. 



The so-called idle bulls were in the majority of cases bulls believed to be only 6 

 years of age. A few 7-year-olds also were unable to obtain harems, but only in 

 exceptional circumstances. It is evident that in a well-balanced herd the idle bulls 

 would largely consist of animals relatively young. During a great excess of bulls a 

 variable number of all ages might be found in the class of idle bulls, but the natural course 



« Monogr. Seal Islands of Alaska, p. 36, 1882. 

 ^ In Allen, N. Am. Pinnipeds, p. 385, iSSo. 



c Obtained by multiplj-ing the average harem ol one rookery by the total number of harems and adding one-half for error in 

 method. See this report, p. 34, and Jordan and Clark. Fur-Seal Invest.. 1896-97. vol. I, p. 97. 1898. 



