482 Proceedings of Royal Society of Edinburgh. [sess. 
in the whole of New England there is only one stream, the 
Penobscot, which still maintains what can be called a commercial 
fishery for Atlantic salmon in its tidal waters. Dams and pollutions 
have practically banished the fish from the other large rivers. The 
Connecticut, to which of old was attached the ‘ apprentice story ’ 
first told of the Thames, the Merrimac, the Kennebec, and many 
others, once teeming with fish, are now barren but for an occasional 
‘stranger.’ Artificial propagation has completely failed to re- 
establish the abundant fisheries which are said formerly to have 
flourished in their estuaries. 
Yield of Salmon (in lbs.) of East Coast of America from United 
States Fishery Commission Returns. ( a ) 
Year. 
1880. 
1887. 
1888. 
1889. 
1892. 
1895. 
1897. 
Penobscot River . 
110,176 
169,894 
192,177 
140,469 
92,282 
80,175 
Lesser Rivers of Maine 
15,743 
12,972 
12,271 
*5,840 
65,011 
Total for State of Maine 
185,637 
205,149 
152,740 
98,322 
New Hampshire . 
Massachusetts 
220 
139 
Rhode Island 
Connecticut .... 
400 
*430 
530 
280 
113 
Total for New England 
(6) 
186,067 
205,679 
153,159 
(6)98,435 
New York .... 
New Jersey. 
... 
1 - 
I •" 
*360 
(а) The figures in this table are taken from United States Fishery Commission Reports 
or Bulletins, with the exception of the yields of the lesser rivers of Maine for the years 
1887-9, which have been calculated. 
(б) The New England total for 1880 is said to have been 12,916 lbs. more than that for 
1892 (U.S.F.C.R. for 1894, p. 128) ; but the yield for 1892 is variously estimated. The 
figures given in the table are to be found in U.S.F.C.R. for 1894, pp. 128-9 ; but at p. 399 
of U.S.F.C. Bulletin, vol. xiii., the total for New England in 1892 is put at 138,457, that 
for Maine at 138,322, and that for Connecticut at 135 lbs. If the figures adopted in the 
table are correct, then the New England total for 1880 is 111,351 lbs. 
As the table of yields shows, this has surely been one of the 
most remarkable of the failures of salmon culture. The experiment 
has gone on for a long time ; the rivers experimented upon were at 
one time as prolific of salmon as any in the world, and the results 
are deplorable. Excuses of many kinds may of course be urged. 
The output of fry may not have been regular enough or large 
enough in this river or that. The laws may not have been suitable 
or properly observed. Friction between Federal and State Govern- 
