77 



our opinion, from one quarter to one pound weight is as 

 large as the fish farmer should attempt to grow his trout, 

 unless from motives of curiosity to see how large they 

 will get to be. 



As to the growth of salmon, we can say that in con- 

 finement in small stew ponds the California salmon will 

 attain about the weight of three-quarters of a pound, and 

 the Kennebec or Eastern salmon a little more. None of 

 the California salmon had, when this was written, pro- 

 duced eggs while retained in the fresh water, but the 

 milt is developed and has been used for fecundating 

 trout and salmon trout eggs. When at liberty and 

 allowed to visit the ocean, salmon grow much faster, 

 and we take the following extract from the report of 

 Maine Commissioners of Fisheries : 



" Salmon. In our issue of May 3d, we made mention 

 of a very large salmon caught at Cape Jellison, Stock- 

 ton, by Josialv Parsons, and purchased by Frank Col 

 lins, of this city. The fish measured fifty inches in 

 length and weighed thirty-three and a half pounds. 

 Attached to the fish was a metallic tag numbered "1019," 

 indicating that it was one liberated from the Bucksport 

 Breeding Works. The tag was forwarded to Mr. Atkins, 

 the superintendent of the works, who keeps a record of 

 all fish used for spawing purposes and liberated. We now 

 chronicle the record of the fish, as learned from a letter 

 from Mr. Atkins to Mr. Collins. He writes that the 

 salmon was liberated at Bucksport, Nov. 10, 1875. It 

 was a female fish, thirty-nine and a half inches in length 

 and yielded five pounds and six ounces of spawn, or 

 about 16,000 eggs. After spawning, it weighed sixteen 

 pounds. He judges that in the preceding Maj,_ (1875) 

 the fish weighed twenty-five pounds. Thus tW fish iu 

 two years bad grown nearly an additional foot in lengtl^ 



