THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 27 
in Idaho) on the tributaries of the Snake river, now difficult of 
access, where it is possible, perhaps, if the attempt is made soon 
enough, to obtain sufficient spawners for large operations in 
hatching. I will also except the mouth of the Little Spokane 
river in Washington Territory, where there isa most excellent 
location for a hatching station, and where perhaps ten million 
eggs a year could be collected, if the statements made about 
the number of salmon that come up the river are at all true. 
These statements have not been substanstiated yet for want of 
opportunity, and all we can say is that thousands and thousands 
of breeding salmon used to frequent this natural and favorite 
spawning ground, and perhaps the canners leave enough now in 
the Columbia to still make the Little Spokane a good collecting 
place for their eggs. As my report to Prof. Baird recommends 
this point as a favorable location for a hatching station, a 
description of some of its advantages may not be out of place 
here, and the first I will mention is its accessibility. Eight 
miles from the mouth of the river, over a remarkably hard and 
level road, is the town of Spokane Falls, a new, but thriving and 
promising settlement of, perhaps, 3,000 inhabitants. This town 
is situated on the line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and isin 
daily communication with the rest of the world by mail, tele- 
graph and railroad, the railroad being one of the great trans- 
continental thoroughfares of the country. 
These general facts alone are sufficient to show the accessi- 
bility of the location without the necessity of mentioning 
details. 
The water supply at the mouth of the Little Spokane for 
hatching the eggs is practically unlimited. As there is a strong 
current in the river, and as the water does not rise till after the 
spawning season and hatching season are over, the water can 
be safely raised from the river itself by a current wheel, as at 
the McCloud river station, and this being the case, any required 
quantity of water can be brought to the hatching house ata 
small expense. The location is also favorable for obtaining 
water conveniently. The river does not ever rise more than a few 
feet, and consequently the hatching house can be erected not 
very far above the low water mark. A small current wheel will, 
