PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 
235 
Tlie first eggs of the summer mix taken at Baird station hatcli in aliout 35 days, 
in an average water temperature of about 54° F. In their natural spawning-beds in 
the river itself, the eggs of tbe summer run are probably all hatched liy the first week 
in December, and most of the eggs of the fall run by the 1st ot March. 
It is not known what iiercentage of eggs is batched in the natural beds of the 
river, but by careful imi)regnation 95 per cent or more can be hatched artificially, even 
when the hatching is conducted on a large scale. Very little trouble is experienced in 
liatching the eggs, and when they are hatched no more beautiful sight can be imagined 
than that of the sw'arms of young, ex(piisitely colored alevins in the hatching- 
troughs. The alevins also remain very healthy with a suitable supply of wmter, and 
in two or three weeks develop their singular instinct to dive down underneath every- 
thing that they can get under. In consequence of this instinct, when left to their 
natural coiiclitions in the rivers they bury themselves under the gravel bed of the 
stream, wdiere, although wdthout any means Avhatevcr of defense or esca]>e and utterly 
helpless, they are nevertheless, by this wonderful provision of nature, absolutely safe 
until, their yolk sac having become absorbed, they have to come out of their places of 
refuge to get something to eat. 
After the young fish come out of their hiding-places in the gravel, they at first 
gather together in schools, but soon begin to separate, after which they are so rajiid in 
their movements that it is a pretty actiA^e bird or fish that succeeds in catching many 
of them. In the course of the summer following the hatching season, they flock 
together like blackbirds in the fall, and make their journey to the sea; and the next 
time w'e see them they are ascending the rivers to continue their endless round of 
reproductive life. 
I can not close this subject ivithout referring to the mystery which hangs OA’er tlie 
question of the length of tlie stay of the quinnat salmon in the ocean. The problem 
is this: There is not a shadow of a doubt that more than nine-tenths, if not ninety- 
nine hundredths, of the summer run of salmon that come up the tributaries of the 
Sacramento to spawn end their liA^es immediately after spawning, but the next year, 
before their progeny are 6 inches long, another set of full-grown, mature salmon come 
up the river and spawn and die, and the next year the same, and so on. Flow, the 
question is. Where did this second lot and third lot come from, and where were ihei/ Ihe 
year before they came np to the spawniny-yronndsf If, being anadromous fish, all the 
Sacramento quota of salmon in the ocean came up to spawn any one year and died on 
the siiawning-grounds, how could there be any run to come up the next year and the 
next? It seems almost as puzzling as the old question. Which came first, the hen or 
the egg? If the hen laid the first egg, where did the hen come from? 
The mystery in regard to the salmon has so far remained unsolved, and probably 
will remain so for sometime to come. The writer does not claim to furnish an answer, 
but would merely suggest that it may be possible that out of each annual batch of 
eggs tliat are hatched different portions of the fish created from tliem may remain in 
the ocean different lengths of time before they reach the reproductive stage of life, 
which hurries them up the rivers to perpetuate their species. This would supj)ly a 
solution of the problem, but, like the theory of evolution, it is not at present supported 
by evidence. 
