388 



The National, Geographic Magazine 



had under consideration the question of 

 transplanting sahnon from Lake Ontario 

 or from neighboring rivers to the Hud- 

 son, and in that year, at the instance of 

 the corporation of Albany, a law was 

 enacted prohibiting for a term of years 

 the taking of such introduced fish. This 

 project, however, does not appear to 

 have been followed up, and it remained 

 for the present generation to give it a 

 trial. The states bordering on the Dela- 

 ware were also solicitous for the intro- 

 duction of salmon into that stream, which 

 had never contained salmon, and the test 

 was made therein about the same time. 



Of the many salmon streams that New 

 England once had, the only one that has 

 survived is the Penobscot, and this has 

 been maintained solely by artificial means, 

 for natural spawning has for some years 

 practically been suspended. It was at the 

 well-known salmon hatchery located on 

 Craig Brook, a tributary of the Penob- 

 scot, that the young fish for stocking the 

 Hudson .and Delaware were hatched and 

 reared. Rather liberal plants were made 

 for several years, beginning in i8go, and 

 in the fifth year after the first deposits 

 mature fish began to be caught in the 

 nets of the shad fishermen. It is a matter 

 of record that over 300 salmon weighing 

 10 to 38 pounds were caught illegally in 

 the Hudson in 1895, and fully 300 were 

 taken in the Delaware in the same year 

 and sold. This gratifying outcome was 

 widely heralded as establishing the feasi- 

 bility of inducing a permanent supply in 

 these rivers; but, unfortunately, when 

 the planting of young fish was discon- 

 tinued the run of adult fish in due time 

 declined, and today those waters are as 

 free from salmon as they ever were. 

 These efiforts, however, were not alto- 

 gether useless, since they showed (i) 

 that the young fish ran to sea, remained 

 in the vicinity of the rivers until mature, 

 and then were impelled by the spawning 

 instinct to return to the same rivers, and 

 (2) that the streams proved unfavorable 

 for natural reproduction, for there is little 

 or no evidence that effective spawning 

 took place. 



Whether the making of large plants 

 for a long series of years would eventu- 

 ally establish the salmon in these two 

 rivers and in others formerly inhabited by 

 the fish is perhaps an open question, but to 

 my mind is very doubtful. The physical 

 conditions in most of our northern 

 streams are each year becoming more un- 

 suitable for such species because of ob- 

 structions, pollutions, clearing of forests 

 at their headwaters, etc. ; and if it is pos- 

 sible to establish any kinds of salmon 

 therein the greatest chance for success 

 Hes with some of the less fastidious west- 

 ern species. 



stocking the potomac with new 

 Fishes 



As an example of what ma)' be done 

 for a large stream in the way of bene- 

 ficent acclimatization, the case of the Po- 

 tomac River may be cited. The com- 

 mercial fisherman, the professional fly- 

 caster, and the casual angler all have 

 cause to render profound thanks for what 

 has here been accomplished in their in- 

 terest. 



The most valuable non-indigenous 

 fishes now inhabiting the Potomac are 

 the small-mouth and large-mouth black 

 basses. Ichthyologists and fish culturists 

 are well aware that these most excellent 

 food and game species are not native to 

 this river, but their introduction occurred 

 so long ago that the general public has 

 lost sight of the interesting facts con- 

 nected therewith. It was in 1854, shortly 

 after the completion of the Baltimore and 

 Ohio Railroad, that a lot of small-mouth 

 black bass from the Ohio River were 

 brought east in the water tank of a loco- 

 motive engine and liberated in the basin 

 of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal at 

 Cumberland. Having free access to the 

 Potomac, the fish soon found their way 

 to various parts of the river, and inside 

 of ten years literally swarmed in all the 

 tributaries from Mount Vernon to the 

 headwaters. At the present time the 

 species affords much sport from Wash- 

 ington to Harpers Ferry and beyond, but 

 is not common below the capital. The 



