128 THE NEW AET OF BEEEDING FISH. 



the time quite sickly and helpless ; and that, do all 

 you may, your utmost exertions will not enable you 

 to collect so much as one per cent, of the ova de- 

 posited in the river ; and that, after all, you have 

 only robbed the river of so many ova which would 

 otherwise have been deposited there without your 

 aid." Now, in my opinion, if the female salmon be 

 properly manipulated the ripe ova will be expelled 

 only, and if the fish be returned to the river, she wiU 

 recover, her remaining ova will become mature, and 

 she will deposit them, and get them impregnated as 

 if nothing had happened. I believe this to be Mr. 

 Andrew Young's opinion. At the best, however, it 

 can only be opinion or surmise. It is very difficult 

 to tell what becomes of a salmon returned to the ri- 

 ver after some of its ova have been expressed for the 

 purpose of producing salmon in boxes or ponds. A 

 late number of the Perth Courier says, " On Satur- 

 day last, from five female and one male salmon, 

 caught below a ford near the mouth of the Almond, 

 about 50,000 eggs were got." This statement does 

 not agree with " Salmo's" calculation. 



I have as yet said little of " Piscator's" letter. 

 He clinches the matter at once by saying that the 

 only remedy to prevent the decay of salmon is a 

 change in the salmon-fishery laws — a change from 

 bad to good. It is the best remedy, and, if all of us 

 were like " Piscator," we soon should get it ; if all 

 were as ready as he is to form " An Association for 

 the Protection of Salmon," the Legislature would ac- 



