88 STATISTICS OF STORMONTFIELD. 



wanted, and will render the annual filling of the breeding-boxes 

 a certainty, which, even under the old two-year system, was 

 not so, in consequence of floods on the river Tay, and from 

 many other causes besides. 



Upwards of three millions of pond-bred fish have now been 

 thrown into the river Tay, and the result has been a satisfactory 

 rise in the salmon-rental of that magnificent stream. 



I have compUed the following summary of what has been 

 achieved in salmon-breeding in the Stormontfield ponds : — 



On the 23d November 1853 the stocking of the boxes com- 

 menced, ana before a month had expired 300,000 ova were 

 deposited, being at the rate of 1000 to each box, of which at 

 that time there were 300. These ova were hatched in April 



1854, and the fry were kept in the ponds till May 1855, when 

 the sluice was opened, and one moiety of the fiish departed for the 

 river and the sea. About 1300 of these were marked by cutting 

 off the dead or second dorsal fin. The smolts marked were about 

 one in every hundred, so that about 130,000 must have departed, 

 leaving more than that number in the pond. The second spawn- 

 ing, in 1854, was a failure, only a few thousand fish being pro- 

 duced. This result arose from the imperfect manipulation of the 

 fish by those intrusted with the spawning. The third spawning 

 took place between the 22d November and the 16th December 



1855, and during that time 183,000 ova were deposited in the 

 boxes. These ova came to life in April 1856. The second migra^ 

 tion of the fry spawned in 1853 took place between the 20th 

 April and 24th May 1856. Of the smolts that then left the ponds, 

 300 were marked with rings, and 800 with cuts in the tail. 

 Many grilses having the mark on the tail were re-taken, but 

 none of those marked with the ring. The smolts from the 

 hatching of 1856 left the pond in April 1857. About 270 

 were marked with silver rings inserted into the fl.eshy part of 

 the tail; about 1700 with a small hole in the giU-cover; and 

 about 600 with the dead fin cut off in addition to the mark in 

 the gUl-cover. Several grilses with the mark on the gill and 

 tail were caught and reported, but no fish marked with the ring. 

 The fourth spawning took place between the 12 th November 

 and the 2d December 1857, when 150,000 ova were deposited 

 in the boxes. These came to life in March 1858. Of the 

 smolts produced from the previous hatching, which left the pond 

 in 1858, 25 were marked with a silver ring behind the dead 

 fin, and 50 with gilt copper wire. Very few of this exodus were 



