168 THE OREGON SPORTSMAN 



It takes about GOO pounds of food a day to feed the young salmon 

 at the Bonneville hatchery now and in the heighth of the season as 

 high as 2000 pounds a day are fed. By using spent salmon, smelt and 

 the offal from the canneries the state is able to obtain this food at a 

 very low cost, and through the installation of a cold storage plant the 

 food can be obtained when it is most plentiful and kept in a frozen 

 state till it is required for feeding. 



You, gentlemen, who are hosts here today, know better than I how 

 to translate the foregoing figures into freight. You know the number 

 of cars which you have handled annually for the commercial fisher- 

 men of the state. The propagation of salmon, therefore, has a peculiar 

 and pertinent relation to the railroads of Oregon. Should the state 

 take a backward step and discontinue the modern feeding system the 

 packing industry would begin to slump and the railroads would lose 

 proportionately. For the most part the hauls connected with the 

 salmon industry are long hauls which are much preferred and greatly 

 desired. The transportation companies of Oregon can therefore well 

 afford to take a very pronounced interest in the work of the hatchery 

 department. At no expense to the taxpayers the state is keeping alive 

 and growing an industry which is of vital importance to thousands of 

 her citizens. To paraphrase a familiar quotation — the state of Oregon 

 casts its fish into the waters and in four years they return manyfold 

 to bless and enrich us. 



So far I have only touched on the propagation of commercial fish. 

 From this industry we get tangible, visible results and the trans- 

 portation companies know absolutely what is their share of the money 

 which annually flows to Oregon from the Eastern markets. 



We have still another department of our hatcheries which is just 

 as important although the results cannot be measured so accurately 

 in dollars and cents. I refer to the propagation and distribution of 

 game fish in the streams of our state. The planting of these fry, like 

 the commercial fish, was conducted spasmodically up to the year 1911. 

 That year the game department liberated nearly two million trout fry. 

 Since that time there have been liberated from the several hatcheries 

 and feeding stations an average of over 6,000,000 annually. It is safe 

 to say that there are very few of the angling streams of the state 

 which have not been stocked and restocked since first this work began. 

 In the past three years trout fry have been liberated in 175 lakes, 

 which prior to stocking had never had any fish in them. The planting, 

 of trout in these lakes has created new recreation grounds for anglers 

 and has materially widened the field of this splendid sport. Reports 

 from every nook and corner of Oregon state that never before has 

 fishing been better. This is a striking testimonial for the work of 

 our hatcheries. 



In 1913 we issued 54,000 hunters' licenses and a few more than 

 52,000 anglers' licenses. Last year the figures remain the same for 

 hunters but — and the statement is significant — we issued 59,891 anglers' 

 licenses — an increase of nearly 8000 or about 15 per cent. It is 

 estimated from the meagre reports on hand at this time that the 

 increase will hold good for this year. 



What has brought about this increased desire to angle? Cer- 

 tainly it is not because the people of the state want to help out the 

 Fish and Game department by showing their interest through the pur- 

 chase of a license. The real reason is because the fish are in the streams 

 and are being caught. And the reason the fish are there in plentiful 

 quantities is because they have been planted there and have grown 

 and multiplied. You take a day off, wade the rippling trout stream 



