CULTURE OF THE SALMON. 139 



In 1861 it was £14,109 15s. 

 " 1862 " " 14,080 12s. 

 " 1863 " " 14,257 16s. 

 " 1864 " " 15,000 00s. 



" These official documents, the concurrent testimony of all 

 whom we heard speak upon the subject, and the great abun- 

 dance of salmon we saw in the market of England, convince 

 us that good results have followed the efforts to restock the 

 streams of Great Britain. It may be proper to remark in 

 this connection, that we estimated the amount of salmon 

 for sale in the London markets to be mor« than double all 

 other fresh-water fish on sale. The price has been affected 

 by the increase of supply. They were selling in July last 

 at one shilling (twenty-four cents) per pound. Six years 

 ago salmon were sold in London at over a dollar per 

 pound." 



From B. J. Lane, one of the special commissioners for 

 Irish fisheries, we obtained their reports for a series of 

 years. In them there is evidence of steady progress. In 

 the report of 1865 they commence by saying: — 



" We have great satisfaction in being able to report the 

 steady and progressive improvement of the fisheries com- 

 mitted to our charge. That improvement is, however, 

 more real than apparent. Its proofs are found in the 

 shoals of smelts that descended to the sea last spring, in 

 the multitudes of fry that swarmed in the rivers during 

 the summer, and in the unprecedented number of breeding 

 fish that have so lately thronged the spawning-beds. Its 

 effects appear in the increase of the number of men living 



