XXV.-REPORT OF OPERATIONS AT THE UNITED STATES TROUT- 

 BREEDING STATION ON THE M^ CLOUD RIVER, CALIFORNIA, 

 DURING THE YEAR 1883. 



By LrvTNGSTOx Stone. 



The year opened on the McOloud Eiver with unusually cold and 

 clear weather, in consequence of which both the river and the trout- 

 pond creek were at a very low stage of water. As, however, there is 

 water enough for the trout-ponds, and much to spare even in the hottest 

 and driest time in midsummer, the condition of the creek on this New 

 Year's was by no means unfavorable, but, on the contrary, much more 

 desirable than the opposite state of affairs, which sometimes prevails 

 at this season, when the river is high and the creek is booming and 

 mud is being washed down into the trout-ponds in quantities that are 

 dangerous to the health of the fish. 



The trout in the ponds on the 1st of January were in splendid 

 condition. There were between 2,000 and 3,000, and their average 

 weight was about 2^ pounds. They showed signs of spawning earlier 

 this year than in previous years, and on the third day of January the 

 first eggs were taken, to the number of 26,000. The spawning season, 

 although coming several days earlier than in previous years, seemed ta 

 have fally set in, because on January 4th 28,000 more eggs were taken, 

 and on the 5th 25,500 were taken. 



At the close of the report will be found a table showing the daily 

 number of eggs taken during the season. 



This year the spawning of the fish was particularly severe on the 

 men who handled them, owing to the very cold weather that prevailed 

 during the spawning months. This cold weather was unusual even 

 for this locality. It will be remembered, however, that unusual cold 

 weather prevailed over the whole western coast during the winter of 

 1882-'83, and that at San Francisco the greatest and indeed almost the 

 only snow-storm deserving the name since California was settled oc- 

 curred during that winter. 



When very cold weather is spbken of on the Pacific coast it is not, of 

 course, anything like the extreme cold of the same latitudes on the 

 Atlantic coast that is meant. Indeed, a resident of the Atlantic slope 

 of the United States would be rather amused to hear even the most 



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