32 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
packed in boxes and iced. In the early part of the fall season the demand for fresh 
steelheads is large, and there is more profit in shipping fish east than in canning them. 
The only place noticed near Tumwater 'where salmon could be held for spawning 
purposes is near the seining-ground on the Washington side of the river. Here a 
channel has been cut, but owing to the small number of fish that entered it the wheel 
built near its head and also the channel have for several years been abandoned. On 
the lower end of the channel is a small indentation where an eddy is formed: a dam 
could be built here and also one across the mouth of the upper end of the channel, 
with iron screens at either end. By covering the top of the channel, either the whole 
or a part of it, an inclosure would be formed which would hold a large number of 
salmon. It seems reasonable to suppose that salmon would live much longer in an 
inclosure of this kind than in boxes, as they would be crowded far less and have a 
better circulation of water. A swift current or comparatively still water could be had 
by putting in a gate at the upper end of the channel. The cost would be considerably 
more than keeping salmon alive in cars or boxes, but it is thought that the results 
would be more satisfactory. 
seufert’s tumwater. 
On the Washington side of the river, opposite Seufert Brothers’ cannery, is an 
excellent seining-ground, where salmon are said to be caught in large numbers. 
Within a few rods is a narrow channel of the river suitable in every way for a retain- 
ing pond. The hatchery building could be placed upon grouud quite close to the 
retaining channel and where a supply of suitable water can be led by gravity. Seining 
is carried on principally for silver salmon and steelheads; many Chinooks are also 
caught, but they are so near the spawning condition that they are not used for can- 
ning. The probabilities that fish could be secured here and retained for a short time 
until ripe are greater than at the Cascades, and the expense would be very slight. 
JOHN DAY RIVER. 
This river was examined at its mouth September 2. It is there a stream of 
moderate size, quite shallow, and very muddy. The banks and bottom for some 
distance above the mouth are of mud or sand. Farther upstream the water is, of 
course, much clearer. Salmon could doubtless ascend the John Day River, but it 
is not certain that they do so in any numbers, and none was observed. Interviews 
with persons living on or familiar with the upper course of the stream failed to elicit 
any evidence that chinook salmon are now found there. It is said that a good many 
salmon formerly entered this river and spawned in the spring, but these are evidently 
steelheads and not Chinooks. A few years ago a wheel was operated in the mouth of 
the John Day, but it has not been run for two or three years. 
DES CHUTES RIVER. 
The Des Chutes River has its source on the eastern slopes of the Cascade 
Mountains and elsewhere in Crook County, Oregon, flows nearly north and joins the 
Columbia about midway between the mouth of the John Day River and The Dalles. 
It has been generally regarded as the best salmon-spawning stream in the lower 
Columbia basin, and it was reported that large numbers of salmon can be seen at any 
time in the fall in this river at Sherar’s Bridge, 30 miles front The Dalles or about 40 
miles above the mouth of the river. This place was therefore visited from August 
29 until September 1. 
