168 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
scooped out of the bath kettle and placed in a tank filled with cold 
water; they were then wiped off with old rags, and often were left in a 
rather untidy and unattractive condition, so far as outward appearance 
was concerned. The ends of the cans were covered with red lead, and 
in some cases the entire cans were painted. They were then labeled 
and packed in cases. 
The difficulties of the enterprise were not confined to packing, for 
when the goods were offered for sale in the San Francisco market no 
one could at first be induced to purchase or even to handle material so 
entirely unknown to the commercial world. Finally, one commission 
firm was found that advanced the shipping charges on a part of the 
pack, which was sent to Australia. The venture was a success; the 
salmon sold readily and netted $16 per case. As soon as this result 
was learned the rest of the pack was shipped to the same market, where 
it met with an equally good reception. 
And thus was the salmon-canning industry of the west coast estab- 
lished, and from this small beginning has grown one of the great fish- 
eries of the world, the products of which have become familiar wherever 
civilization exists. 
During the season of 1864, 1865, and 1866, particularly in the latter 
year, the run of salmon was unusually light on the Sacramento. Pack- 
ing continued and a good trade was built up with Australia and South 
America. No sales of canned salmon were made in the United States 
at that time, since the lack of proper facilities for transportation and 
ignorance of the value of such products hindered their distribution in 
this country ; but the demand grew rapidly and the scarcity of fish on 
the Sacramento made it necessary to look for new sources of supply. In 
the spring of 1866 the Columbia Eiver was visited and the conditions 
were so favorable that the firm built a cannery at Eagle Cliff, 40 miles 
above Astoria — the first cannery on the river— -and thus became the 
pioneers of the salmon fishery in that region. 
In recent years the supply of salmon on the Sacramento has been 
diminishing, and, as a consequence, many canneries have devoted con- 
siderable time and effort to the packing of fruit, including berries, while 
other packing establishments have been moved to Alaska. 
According to statements of packers, the best season in recent times 
for salmon was in 1881, when this species was very abundant in the 
region under discussion. In 1882 and 1883 good catches were made, 
but the yield was considerably less than in 1881. The years 1884 to 1886, 
inclusive, showed a large decrease in the supply, and in 1887 the season 
was the poorest ever known. There was, however, a most gratifying 
increase in 1888, although the catch did not reach the proportions that 
it had attained in some of the earlier years. 
During the season of 1888 four canneries were operated on the Sac- 
ramento Eiver. These were located, respectively, at Sacramento, 
Black Diamond, Ohipp ? s Island, and Benicia. They employed 295 per- 
