82 CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 



mento. It was thought that if water could be found in which the eggs 

 could be hatched without causing injury to the eggs and embryos, a 

 greater percentage of the fry would safely reach the ocean than would 

 be the ease if they were all liberated in the upper reaches of the river 

 near the natural spawning grounds. It was maintained that under the 

 old system of liberating the fry as soon as they were able to swim, a 

 great many of them were devoured by predatory fishes, and others were 

 carried into the overflow basins during years of flood. 



Accordingly the station at Sacramento was established. Mr. F. A. 

 Shebley conducted the work in addition to his duties as superintendent 

 of the Brookdale Hatchery. The experiments as carried on at Sacra- 

 mento were of vital importance to the salmon industry. After experi- 

 menting with the water from a number of wells, a flow of water was 

 found on the Sherburn tract that appeared to be pure enough for 

 salmon propagation. The fish hatched at this station were all released 

 in the Sacramento Eiver. Of these, 50,000 were marked in order to 

 determine by careful observation whether a greater percentage return 

 as mature salmon than those that were released on the upper reaches of 

 the Sacramento River. 



Nearly all of the fry that were liberated in the Sacramento River 

 were floated in a screen cage by boat into the middle of the stream and 

 there released. Mr. N. B. Scofield, however, took 500 in a floating box 

 dovm the river, where they were held and fed for several weeks in 

 brackish and salt water. They were not affected by the sudden change 

 from the fresh to brackish and then to the saline waters of the straits 

 near the outlet of the bay. 



In the course of the experiments and in the search for suitable water 

 for hatching purposes, two wells were bored and the water from other 

 wells was also analyzed and experimented with. The batteries or series 

 of troughs used in these experiments were set up in the open air near 

 the wells, and the pumping plants were installed temporarily. The 

 best results were obtained from the well on the Sherburn tract. Here 

 a battery of 40 troughs was set up on the levee, and the pumping plant 

 installed in a small building of corrugated iron. These experiments 

 were continued until the season of 1912-1913, but with no favorable 

 results. The water did not have the life-sustaining equalities of moun- 

 tain stream water, although a well arranged system of aeration was 

 used, and the conclusion was reached that the well water all through 

 the valley contains too much mineral to hatch salmon eggs without 

 destroying or injuring them so badly that they will not thrive if they 

 should hatch out. The undertaking was accordingly abandoned in 

 1913, the station was closed and the troughs and other apparatus were 

 shipped to the Sisson Hatchery. 



BEAR LAKE HATCHERY. 



"With the aid of the San Bernardino Trout Association, San Bernar- 

 dino County in 1914 built a trout hatchery with a capacity of 1,000,000 

 fish. The hatchery was located on the south side of Bear Lake. It was 

 built under the supervision of Mr. E. W. Hunt, superintendent of the 

 Talioe Hatchery. The expense of the hatchery was borne by the mem- 

 bers of the county association, and no monev was solicited outside the 



