U. S. COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES, JOHN J. BRICE, Commissioner. THE IFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH NOTES ON THE NATURAE HISTORY OF THE OUINNAT SALMON. BY LIVINGSSXOX BXONE, ^. NI. Extracted from V. S. Fish Commission Balletin for 1896. Article 3, Pages 203 to 235, Plates 73 to 87, WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. isnfi. N, U. S. COMMISSION OF FISH AND FISHERIES, JOHN J. BRICE, Commissioner. THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH xXOTES OX THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE QUINNAT SALMON. BY LIVINGSTON STONE, A. IVI. Extracted frnm U. S, Fish CommissioE Balletin for 1896, Article 3, Pages 203 to 235, Plates 73 to 87. WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 189 6. ?fs THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SALMON OX THE PACIFIC COAST OF THE IXITEI) STATES. WITH NOTES ON THE NATURAE HISTORY OE THE^ OUINNAT SALMON. By LIVINOSTON STONE, A. NI. 203 Bull. U. S. F. C. 1896. (To face pags 205.) Plate 73. o 2 Li. i/l D :i O O I O lij CE DC .„ O O => a O o :^ < ± m I 3.-THE ARTIFICIAL PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST OF THE UNITED STATES, WITH NOTES ON THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OUINNAT SALMON. By LIVINGSTON STONE, A. M. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SALMON-BREEDING WORK OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION ON THE PACIFIC COAST, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO OPERATIONS AT BAIRD STATION, CALIFORNIA. Ill 18G4 the New Hampshire legi.slatuie had the intelligence and foresight to appoint a ti.'^h conmiissiou — the pioneer fl.sh eoniiiiis.sion of the United States — at tlie suggestion of Hon. Henry A. Bellows, of Concord. Two years after, in 18G6, the commission sent Dr. W. W. Fletcher to New Brunswick to i^rocure salmon eggs for Merrimac River. This was the first effort ever made in America in the direction of salmon breeding. Only two or three hundred fry were actually known to have resulted from this exiiedition, but it was a beginning — a small beginning, it is true, but one which opened up a field of operations that has since been enlarged beyond the most sanguine expectations. In 18G7 Dr. Fletcher went again to New Brunswick, under the auspices of the New Hampshire Comndssion, and brought back 70,000 salmon eggs, of which about 10.000 were successfully hatched. The next year, 18(18, the writer, in connection with Mr. Josejjh Goodfellow, of New Brunswick, put up a large salmon-hatching plant on Mirimichi Eiver, and began the first systematic operations on this side of the Atlantic for taking and hatching salmon eggs. The neighboring residents,' however, very naturally Jealous of the attempts of a foreigner to carrj'- off their "salmon seed," as they expressed it (although by explicit stipulations lialf of the eggs were to remain in New Brunswick), threw so many obstacles in the way that it was only by persistent effort, in the face of most discouraging opposition, that any salmon eggs at all were secured, the whole output of the season amounting to only 443,900 eggs, and the next year the local pulilic sentiment was so hostile that this hatchery, constructed on a large scale and almost ideal in its natural adaptability to its purpose, had to be abandoned altogethei-. Very little was done in 1860 and 1870 in getting salmon eggs for the United States, except by purchase from the Canadian government, the price paid at that time being the preposterous sum of $40 in gold per 1,000, or nearly $45 in the then depreciated currency of the United States. In 1871' Mr. Charles G. Atkins, of Maine, began operations in salmon breeding on the Penobscot, and obtained 72,300 eggs, at a cost of $18.09 per 1,000. ' See Domesticated Trout, pajje 315. ■* Mr. Atkius has continued successfully to take salmou (Salmo salar) eggs on the I'euoViscot ni> to the present time (18'J6). 205 206 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. lu the SHimuer of 1S712, at a meeting of members of the Fisli-Culturists' Associa- tion and State flsh commissioners, called, I think, by Prof. 8i)encer F. Baird, the United States Fish Commissioner, the subject of obtaining salmon eggs on a large scale "was discussed, the writer advocating the plan of operating on the I'acitic (.'oast,' where millions of eggs could be taken at the cost of a few hundred thousand obtained on the Atlantic Coast. One of the results of this meeting was that the writer was commissioned by Professor Baird to go to the Paciflc Coast in search of salmon eggs. Professor Baird's instructions were contained in the following letter: UxrrED States (Iommission ok Fish and Fisheriks, Eastport, Alaine, ■hihj 6', 1S72. Dear Sir: An appropriation of $15,000 was made by Conj;ress, at its last session, to be expended under the direction of the United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, for introducing salmon, shad, and other useful food-fishes into new and suitable waters of the T'nited States. At the recom- nieudation of members of the Fish-Cnlturists' Association and certain State fish commissioners, I hereby .appoint you a deputy commissioner, to proceed without delay to the Pacific Coast, iu connection with this object. Your compensation in full for your services will be $250 a month, your pay commencing when you start for the West. The sum of $750 will be allowed you for expenses of traveling and of investigation for the fiscal year, and a further allowance of $1,250 for the same period will be made for the cost of erecting and maintaining a luatehing establishment, and for other necessary expenses connected with the packing and transportation of the eggs, etc. — $5,000 in all. You will ])roceed to California at the earliest possible moment, and on arriving there ]>ut yourself in communication witb the commissioners of the State of California and endeavor to obtain their assistance in your mission. If you can make arrangements to obtain, at reasonable cost, all the eggs that you desire in California, without proceeding farther north, you are hereby authorized to do so, but otherwise you will extend your journey to the Columbia River and adjacent waters, and if the season is not too far advanced you will proceed at once to make arrangements for obtaining ii supply of salmon eggs; iireviously. however, by examination and counsel with those who are familiar with the subject, fixing upon the species best adapted for the j)urposes in question. The general treatment of the whole subject must l)e left largely to your discretion, bearing in mind that the object is to lay the foundation of an arrangement, on a large scale, for obtaining eggs of the best varieties of Sahnonidw and other food-fishes of the western coast. Very truly yours, .Si-encer F. Baird, Commissioner. LivixGsTON Stone, Escj., Charleslown, Xew Hampshire. Perhaps I can not better give an account of what immediately followed than by quoting from my lirst report to Professor Baird, dated December 0, 1872:- In pursuance of your instructions, received in .July last, to proceed without delay to the Pacific Coast and nuake arrangements for obtaining a supply of salmon eggs, I left Boston on the 1st day of August for S.an Francisco, with this object. As I was directed in subsequent letters to obtain, if possible, the eggs of the Sac'ramento River salmon, I set myself at work at once to ascertain the time and place of the spawning of these fish, but, singular as it seems, I could find no one in San Fran- cisco who was able to say either where or when the salmon of the Sacramento spawned. Fortunately, a short time after, I was introduced, through the kindness of Hon. B. B. Redding, a member of the board of California commissioners of fisheries, to Mr. Mcmtague, the chief engineer ' It may be well to mention here that the subject of this paper, viz, the qninnat salmon, must not be confounded with the other salmon of the Pacific Coast. The Atlantic has but one kind of salnicm (Siihiii) sninr], but the Pacific has five species, as follows: The quinnat salmon {rliiincliiix Isrlid- tcytscha), the blncbaik salmon ( U. iierka), the sih er salmon ( 0. kisKlcJi). the dug salmon ( (I. kela), and the hum]iback salmon ( (). iiorhiisclin). In addition to these the steelhead ( Sobno gairdiieri) is commonly known as a s;iInion, though really a trout. Althougli these salmon in some gcucrul features resemble the quinnat, they are very ditVeniit from th.it fish in many matters of detail. -United States Fish Commissioner's Report, 1872-73, page 1G8. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 207 of the Pacific Railroad, wlio showed me the Pacific Railroad surveys of the upper waters of the Sacramento, and pointed out a place on the map, near the .junction of McClond and Pitt rivers, where be assured me he had seen ludiaus spearing salmon in the fall on their spawniug-heds. This point is 185 miles north of Sacramento City. Following this clue I proceeded to Red Hluft', the nortliern- most railway station of the California and Oregon Railroad, situated ;iO miles from McCloud River. From inquii'ies made there I heeame so well convinced that the salmon were then spawning on JlcCloud River, that as soon as supplies and men could he got ready I took the California and Oregon stage for Pitt River ferry, a mile from the mouth of tlie McCloud. We arrived hero at daylight on the 30th of August. Leaving the stage at this point we followed up the west hank of Pitt River on foot to the mouth of the McCloud, and continued thence up McCloud River. At a distance of about 2 miles above the mouth of the river we came upon several camps of Indians with hundreds of freshly caught salmon drying on the bushes. Salmon could also he seen in the river in such numbers that we counted 60 in one spot as we stood at tlie water's edge. It was evident that this was the place to get the breeding fish, and the next thing was to find water to mature the eggs for shipment. This was not so easy a ta.sk as finding the salmon, but we at last discovered a spring stream flowing 1,000 gallons an hour, which I decided to use, this season at least, and on the morning of September 1, 1872, the hatching works of the first s.almon-breediug station of the T'nited States were located on this stream. The location is about 2 miles up McClond River, on its western bank. It is 323 miles from San Francisco, via Pacific Railroad; 4.53 miles from Portland, Oreg., and is on the California stage road, whicli, at the time of our arrival, connected with the railroad at Red BluH'. The spawn found in the salmon that the Indians were speariug on our arrival indicated that there was no time to spare in getting ready for the hatching work. We were 'St miles from the nearest town or village, 50 miles from a railway station, over 50 miles from an available sawmill, and in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where the mule teams barely made 20 miles a day with supplies; but we went to work, and in 15 days we had a house built, filtering-tanks, hatching-apparatus, and flume in perfect running order, and on the 16th of September we were catching and corralling salmon. There were but three of us, and every day for a week the mercury ran from 105° to 112° F. in the shade. But although we worked so expeditiousl}' through tlie broiling sun of those days, we were too late. The first few hauls of the net showed that the salmon had spawned. In fact, the salmon begin to spawn in McClond River some time in August and are through spawning, or nearly through, by the 20th of September. We caught plenty of salmou in the seine, but only rarely a female with ova. By hard fishiug and hauling the seine every night, and sometimes all night, we succeeded in catching 26 salmou, including both sexes, in spawning condition, by the 28th of September. On the night of the 28th, at midnight, as the returns did not seem to warrant the expense of handling the seine, I stopped fishing Of the 26 breeding salmon caught, 12 were females, and yielded .50,000 eggs. Of this number, 20,000 were destroyed by the terrible heat of the last of September, the mercury on some days reachiuj; as high as 112" in the shade. The remaining 30,000 did well in spite of many dangers from sediment and from a fungoid growth which seemed to penetrate the brook water on hot days, and which rendered constant vigilance necessary; and on the 12th day of October the most advanced eggs showed eye- spots. By Friday, October 18, all the eggs were ready to pack for shijiment, but, owing to miscarriaoe of a letter, the moss, which was to be delivered on the previous Tuesday, did not arrive until the evening of the following Tuesday. On the next day, October 23, the eggs were packed and shipped to Sacramento, where I placed them in charge of Wells, Fargo &, Co., by whom they were forwarded east on the 25th of October, 1872. These were the first live salmon eggs that crossed the coutiuent from the I'aciflc to the Atlantic. Here let me quote again from the same report : ' The conditions of hatching salmon eggs in California are wholly difterent from those which present themselves in similar work in the East. At the East you have to guard against cold, in California you have to guard against heat ; at the East you can usually find a good spring in a favorable locality; here it is out of the (|Ucstion; at the East a brook will usually answer the purposes of hatching water in the absence of a spring; in California the brooks as a rule are wholly unsuitable for hatching; at the East the eggs are hatching ' United States Fish Commissioner's Report, 1872-73, pages 171-173. 208 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. in the winter; in Califomiii the Hiilmou sjiawu in the sunmier; and fuially, most of the liatching work is done in California before the Atlantic fish begin to spawn. I tried three ways of capturing the parent salmon; first, by the Indian trap: second, by a stake net and pound; third, by a sweep seine. The Indian trap lousists of a fence of stakes or bushes built out into the river at a fall or rapid in the form of a letter V, having the angle downstream, and a basket trap at the angle. This method proved perfectly worthless, as of course it must, for catching healthy lish, aa this contrivance catches only the exhausted tish that are going down the river and none of the good lish that are coming up. The second method of using a stake net did not work, on account of the vohime and force of the river current. I set the stake net so as to just reverse the form of tlje Indian trap ; that is, so that it formed the letter V with the angle upstream, and a trap or pound in the angle. As it happened, it was too late for such a net to be efiective, because the salmon were all going down at that time, and none, or at most a very few, were coming up; but even if the salmon had been coming up, this contrivance would not have answered here as a permanency, because the V("locity and volume of water in the McCloud are such as would ultimately tear any such net away in any place where it could otherwise be set to advantage. The third method, of sweeping with a seine, worked to perfection. In some of the holes, and especially in one large hole near which it is proposed to |)lace the hatching works next year, any nnmber of parent salmcm can be caught in the proper season. The only objection to hauling a seine in these places is that as the lioat taking out the seine turns to come ashore again it is drawn near the brink of the rapids, over which it would be dangerous to go in the night. This is an objection, however, which skill and nerve can always overcome. On the darkest nights the scene on the river bank was exceedingly wild and picturesque. Behind us was the tall, dark shadow of Persephone Mountain, and before us at our feet ran the gleaming rapid current of the McCloud, while the camp lire threw an unsteady light upon the forest, mountain, and river, suddenly cut off by the dense darkness beyond. The flaming jiitch-pine torches stuck into the sandy beach at intervals of 20 feet to guide the boatmen, the dusky forms of a half-dozen Indians coiled aronnd the lire, or stoically watching the tishing, the net, the fishing boat, and the struggling iish added to the otfect, and made a picture which, especially when the woods were set on fire to attract the salmon, was one of surpassing interest. It was quite impressive, in the midst of these surroundings, to reflect that we were beyond the white man's boundary, in the home of the Indian, where the bear, the panther, the deer, and the Indian had lived for centuries undisturbed. As will be seen by the foregoing, Baird station of the United States Fish Com- mission was founded in August, 1S72. It was known as McCloud River station until 187.S, when tlie writer, having succeeded in getting a post-office established on the river, named thepost-offlce "Baird," after the distinguished first Fish Commissioner of the United States, Hon. Spencer F. Baird, since which time the station has been called Baird station. The first plant on McCloud Eiver was a very modest aft'air. It consisted of a rough- board, one-room cabin, 10 by 14 feet, and 24 hatching-troughs in the open air, each covered, of course, but with no roof over them. The results of the first year were Tuodest enough, too. The whole net product of the season's operations was only oO,UOO salmon eggs, costing over $100 per 1,000, and when these were shipped across the continent to their destination in New Jersey 24,000 were lost in transit, leaving only 0,000 good eggs to be hatched and planted in the tributaries of the Atlantic. Never- theless, two important facts were established bj- the experiment, compared with the value of which the cost of the enterprise was tiifling. The experiment establis^hed the fact that salmon eggs could be obtained in future from the Pacific Coast, and probably in large quantities, and also the fact, most important of all at that time, that salmon eggs could be shipped alive across the continent. The last fact was the more valuable, because up to that time salmon eggs had never been subjected to a long journey by rail, and serious doubts had been often expressed by exi)erts as to the l)Ossibility of getting salmon eggs alive from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Bull, U. S, F. C. 1896. (To face page 208.) Plate 74 PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 209 Previous to this year the Pacific Coast, as a source of supply in procuriug salmon eggs, was an untried field. No one knew anything definite about it. Everything was conjectural. The sending oil', also, of tlie delicate embryos packed in wooden boxes, to run the gauntlet of the vague and innumerable dangers of a. journey across the continent, seemed like sailing out into an undiscovered sea; but now that the season was over the untried field had become familiar ground, and a path over the unknown sea had been found. In the number of eggs procured the results of the first year were small, but in the practical demonstration of what it was possible to accom- plish on the Pacific (Joast, the results of the first year's operations on the McCloud equal or surpass those of any subsequent season. It may also be mentioned here that a valuable mass of information concerning the natural history of the salmon of the Sacramento was obtained this year, and 270 valuable specimens of the fauna of California, chiefly fishes, of course, were collected and forwarded to the Smithsonian Institution. The next year {1.S7.'5), wishing to follow up the lead now clearly brought to view. Professor Baird dispatched tlie writer a second time to California, with instructions to procure as many salmon eggs as possible. Here I will quote from my reports: Having secured supplies and men for the season's campaign, I left this (San Francisco) city again for McCloud River on the 5th of August, arriving at camp the next morning at daylight. The year before, the idea of using McCloud River water not having suggested itself, 1 had been obliged to locate the camp and hatching works at a considerable distance from the river in order to obtain brook water for maturing the eggs. The inconvenience of this arrangement, which placed the lishing-grouuds and hatching-works a mile apart, is apparent. In fact, the constant necessity for crossing and carrying materials from one point to the other, frequently in a temperature of 100- F. in the shade, became so intolerable before the season was over, with its consequent labor, risk, and loss of time, that I resolved, if possible, the next season to bring the camp, hatching-works, tishing- grounds, and stage communication together at one place. This I was fortunately enabled to do by using the river water for hatching .at a point where the California and Oregon stage road touches the west bank of the McCloud. The first plan for conveying the water supply from a higher part of the river to the hatching works was not successful, on account of there not being sufiBcient fall for a satisfactory h.atching apparatus, and for other reasons. This plan was therefore .abandoned and the attempt was nuide to raise water from the river by a wheel placed in the current. This method worked to our entire satisfaction. Having moved the station to the bank of McCloud River, we began fishing in midsummer, think- ing that the salmon could be caught and safely confined until the coming of the spawning season rendered them ready for use. In this we met with a great and complete disap|)ointment. The confinement of the parent salmon in suitable iuclosures. though it seems so simple a matter, was a very trying and difficult problem to solve, and gave us no end of trouble. To show the charac- ter of this difficulty, I will give my experience in the order in which it came. We began building our iuclosures by staking down a small circular fence of stakes in a .shallow place in tlie river near the shore. The stakes were driven down one by one. very firmly, and then firmly bound together and held in their place by withes. The main objection at first to this was that it was on too small a scale. We then built other iuclosures on the same plan, but larger and deeper. This, however, gave the fish more scope for jumping, and, .although the top of the st,akes w.as several feet above the surface of the water in the iuclosure, the salmon easily jumped over them .and escaped into the river. We then put a covering, or roof, over the corral on a level with the top of the fence. The salmon now, although they could not escape by jumping out, were no less persistent in their attempts to do so, and literally wore .and lashed themselves to death in their frantic and ceaseless efforts to escape. I then l)uilt a large, covered, wooden box. It) feet long and about 4 feet deep and .5 feet broad, with wide scams between the boards to let the water through, and anchored it in the current. As the box, when soaked, sank nearly its depth in the water, the salmon had no chance to jump and lash themselves .as in the staked inclosure, and we flattered ourselves we had found the solution of this troublesome problem F. C. B. 18%-U 210 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. of providins; a suitable place of confinement; but what was our surprise and disappointment when, on cxaminin;; tlie box a few days later, we found the salmon all dead. The close confinement had really prevented them from injuring themselves as before by jumping, but at the saint! time had acted so unfavorably in other ways as to cause their death. The priispect now looked very discouraging. We could catch salmon euougli for our purpose, but we could not keep them alive. They were, in fact, dying as fast >is we caught tliem. It now occurred to us that an open jiond. supplied by a good stream of river water, would obviate the diffi- culties ]ire8ent((l, as the iish, having nothing but dry land to .jump onto, would give up jumping and remain iiuiet. I accordingly put on a force of Indians at once, ;iud in a few days had a pond of considerable size ready, and supplied by a stream of water ;takeu from the flume which conveyed the river water from the wheel to the hatching-house. A large number of salmon were then jmt in here, and we felt decidedly encouraged. ]!ut now a new dilliculty jiresented itself, viz, the tish would not ripen in the pond. Whether it was that the roiling of the pcmd by their movements when frightened prevented the eggs and milt from maturing, or whether the friction produced by their incessant jumping in tlio river is one of the necessary conditions of tlieir ripening, I do not know, but it is certain that neitlier eggs nor milt matured in the pond, and I think we did not take a single ripe egg or any first-rate milt from one of the fish there con lined. Jly next move was to build a close boiird floor over the staked inclosurcs in the river, almost touching the surface of the water. This prevented the fish from wearing themselves out by jumping and did not seem to interfere with their ripening, but it dill not keep them wholly from dying. .\t last I became convinced, and am still of the opinion, that the .Sacramento spawning salmon can not be hept alive in any inclosure on a small scale. There seemed now to be but one alternative left, and that was to let those die that were confined, and to keep on fishing and select such fish as Ave could use .is we went along. This we did, and fortunately there were so many fish running in the river that we were able, even after this, to ol)tain enough to furnish tlie recjuisite su|iply of eggs. Two million salmon eggs were taken this season on the McCloud, most of which were shipped across the continent. It was not a hirge number, but, as in 1872, it demon- strated two iinportaut facts: one was the certainty that htrge numbers of eggs coukl be obtained lieie, the otlier that a. large percentage of the eggs could be shii)ped across the continent alive and in good condition. I'revious to the operations of this year it was not known positively that great quautities of salmon eggs could be pro cured on this coast, nor was it by any means thorou,glily established that most of the eggs could make the .journey across the continent safely. ^Yhcn this seaison was over? however, it was known that an immense juimber of salmon eggs could be obtained on this coast, and also that a great majority of them coitld be sent alive to the Atlantic. I will now quote from the report of the United States Fish (Jommissioner for 1873-74, relative to some of the difficulties encountered and the means employed: In the season of 1872 1 used water for hatching from a spring brook which emptied into the McClond a short distance above the site of our present camp, and which had its source about a mile to the west of the river. This brook gave us no end of trouble, on account of its uusuitableness to its purpose. Its average flow in the morning was a little over 1,000 gallons an hour, but at night, after a very hot day, it would shrink to 250 gallons. It would also heat up some days to a very dangerous temperature; then, again, the hogs, which here run in the woods in a semi-wild state, would wallow in it .and make it so roily that all attempts to filter it clean were fruitless; and last, but not least, there was present in the water all the time a vegetable growth, resembling our eastern Conferva, yet somewhat dissimilar to it, that no device of oursconld cleanse the water of. It seemed to be ubicjuitous, and gave a great deal of trouble. These combined disadvantages of the water supply of 1872 decided me to abandon it this season and to look elsewhere for water. But here a new difficulty arose. There was no other spring or brook of any magnitude within several miles. To go that distance to locate would either destroy our stage communication or take ns away from the river. There was but one alternative left, and that was to take the water supply from the McCloud. To accomplish this, a ditch was commenced aliout 50 PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIi^C COAST. 211 rods above the new batchingliouse site iiud was coutimied for 200 fet't, when it was iibaudomd, the obstacles in the way of its smcessful prosecution making it jiracticallj' useless. We were now left without any water supply whatever. There were salmon in abundance at onr very feet, but no water to hatch the eggs with. lu this emergency the idea of raising water from the river itself by a wheel was suggested and immediately put into practice. From this time till it was finished, the wheel was the central object of interest at the camp. So much depended upon it and its successful working, and the project was so novel aud unprecedented, that the progress of the work on it was watched with the greatest solicitude, and at last, when it was completed and actually revolved and lifti'd its 6,000 gallons of water an hour higher than our heads aud jioured it down the flume into the liatchiug-troughs, our relief and enthusiasm were unbounded. I celebrated the occasion by raising at sunset a large American flag over the camp. The ue.vt year, 1874, the problems of procuring the salmon eggs and sending them to the Athmtic. having been solved, the question on hand was liow to obtain as many eggs as the conditions rendered possible. The solution of this (juestion was very nearly reached this year, 5,00(),00{) eggs being secured. The principal events of this year at the station were the introduction throughout the whole hatching-house of the deep trays with the Williamson troughs, aud the building of a salmou-proof rack entirely across McCloud River, just opposite the station, in order to hold the breeding salmon in the vicinity of the seining-ground by preventing them from going any farther up the river, their instinct, of course, keeping them from going down the river. Both these devices worked admirably. 1 will quote from the Gommissiouer's report for lS7-!-73: The deep trays answered their purpose to perfection. The water, entering from the bottom and finding its exit from above the eggs, necessarily permeated all of them continually. It also kept the eggs suspended to a certain degree in the water, so that the underlying tiers were partly relieved of the weight of those above them. At first we placed the eggs in these trays 8 layers deep, but as the season progressed the deep trays worked so well that the layers were increased to 12, and, so far as could be learned, without detriment to the eggs. I am free to say that this combination of deep wire-netting trays with the Williamson plan of hatching-troughs is the best apparatus for maturing salmon eggs that I have yet seen. It is simple, compact, aud eft'ective. By means of it we hatched 18,000 eggs to the superficial foot of hatching- troughs without the least difficulty; so that in one length of our hatching-troughs of 80 feet we matured 1,500,000 salmon eggs. The rack just mentioned made the best kind of inclosure for the breeding salmon, enabling us to dispense with all the pens and pounds, etc., wliich caused so much trouble and disappointment the previous year. Tlie report continues: When the salmon had made an unsuccessful assault upon the dam, tbeyfell back into the hole .at the foot of the rapids, which formed the lower lishiug-ground. Here they werepractically in as secure confinement as if they had been caught aud placed in a pound, for tliedam prevented them from going upstream, and their irrepressible instinct to ascend the river jirevented them from going down. Every foot of this hole was swept by the seine. No better corral or inclosure for confining the fish could be constructed. Here they had their natural habitat and surroundings, the whole volume of McCloud River for a water-supply, and nothing whatever to prevent them from keeping healthy and in first-rate condition. It was the best possible kind of a pound for them. Last year they lashed themselves to pieces trying to escape from their artificial pens. This year they kept as fresh and well as could be wished. They accumulated in this hole by thousands. When any were wanted, it was only neces- sary to extend the net around them and haul them in. Once or twice no less than 15,000 pounds of salmon must have been inclosed in the net. They formed a solid mass, reaching several yards from the shore, aud filling the net 2 or 3 feet deep. If I should say 20,000 pounds, I do not think it would be exaggerating. 212 BULLETIN OF THK UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. This year the station graduated ftom its experimental stage, and from tliis time forward was recognized as a permanent station of tlie Fisli Commission. Tlie next year, 1875, and tlie subsequent years previous to 18S3, tiie main features of the worli of the station having been settled, operations were conducted on the same lines as in 1874. tlie chief desiderata now being to increase tlie efficiency of the station and to reduce the pro rata expense of procuring and distributing the eggs. The story of the happenings at the station consequently now become less inter- esting, but a few important events may be worth mentioning. The prominent feature of the season of 1875 was the abundance of spawning salmon in the McGloud. They were so thick in the river in July that Ave counted a hundred salmon jumping out of the water in the space of a minute, making 0,000 to be actually seen in the air in an hour. Nearly 9,000,000 eggs were taken, and there were more to be liad for tlie taking. The foHowing statistics may be interesting: TUiTo were in bulk almost 100 bushels o£ salmdu ei^gs. To mature these eggs 1,200,000,000 foot- )i(iuiiy the wheel-pump. It took 100 I)ushel8 of moss from Mount Shasta aud over SOO yards of mosc|uito-bar to Latch the eggs. When i)ackcd, they filled 158 boxes 2 feet square by G inches deep. It took 79 crates, containing 2 boxes each, to hold the eggs. The whole lot of eggs sent east weighed, when packed, 20,000 pounds, and the express charges paid Wells, Fargo iV Co. were about $3,000. It was in this year (December 9, 1875) that 280 acres of land on the McCloud, including the station of the United States Fish Commission, were set aside by Presi- dent Grant as a government reservation. The first consignment of salmon eggs was sent across the equator to Australia and New Zealand this year. This was a very trying trip for salmon eggs, which can not survive a temi^erature of over 70° or 75° F., and which would hatch out in 10 days' journey at 60° F. The journey to Australia, however, was very successful, and, con- sent having been obtained to ]ilace the eggs in the ship's ice room during the voyage from San Francistio to Auckland, the eggs arrived in Australia in tine order. Some salmon eggs were hatched at the station this year and the young fish planted in tributaries of the Sacramento. Among the events of 1870 at the station, the building of the hatching-hoitse should be mentioned, becaufee previous to this year the hatching-troughs had all been under a huge tent. This year the tent was dispensed with, aud a large and very substantial hatching-liouse was erected. Jluch x>i'ogress had been made also in spawning the salmon and in j)acking the eggs for shipment, as is shown by the facts that 1,000,000 salmon eggs were taken in a single day, September 4, aud that we succeeded in pack- ing, for a long j(mrney, 400,000 eggs in 1.^ hours. As an illustration of the effect upon the salmon-ova market of the o])erations of the United States Fish Commission in taking salmon eggs, I will mention the striking fact that " five years ago the United States paid the Canadians SKI per 1,000, in gold, for salmon eggs, and now the United States Fish Commission is sending salmon eggs from California to the British Colonies of the Pacitic for 50 cents per 1,000, being a reduction of price in the ratio of 80 to 1." ' In 1870 the practice was inaugurated of shipping the eggs for eastern consignees all together in a private ice car as far as Chicago, and distributing them from there to their various destinations by express. ' United States Fish Commissioner's Report 1875-76, page 943. Bull. U. S. F. C. 1896. (To face page 212.) Plate 75. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 213 Prof. Baird, in his report to Oougress, speaks as folIowvS iu regard to this method: After careful conaideration, Mr. Stoue advised that all tbo easteru shipments of eggs iu 1876 should be made in bulk as far as Chicnfjo, and that a special car should he secured and properly fitted up. in which the egi;s sboubl lie placed aud transferred on an expri'ss train iu the care of proper messengers. This exjierimeut was carried out and proved an entire success, 18 consignees in 13 States receiving their supplies in even better condition than usual and at less expense. The foreign demand for ova had increased to such an extent by 1877 that during that year salmon eggs were sent from the McClond to Prussia, Germany, the Nether- lauds, England, France, Canada, Australia, and Xew Zealand. The experience acquired in packing and shipping the eggs enabled us this year to get them to their destinations with very slight loss in transit. , The Lijttkton Times, Christ Church, New Zeahind, of November 14, 1877, says: The splendid condition in which the Wellington consignment of American salmon ova has arrived reflects great credit ou those in America who had charge of the collecting and packing, which in several resjiects is an improvement on the English method. The War Department furnished the station a military guard this year, "which proved to be a very valuable acquisition. The hatching of a large portion of the salmon eggs for the State of California continued during this year and subsequent years until 1884. The year 1878 was the year of the immense gathering of salmon in the McCloud. Regarding this extraordinary appearance, my report for 1878 reads: I have never seen anything like it anywhere, not eveu on the tributaries of the Columbia. On the afternoon of the l.")th of August there was ,a space in the river below the rack about ,50 feet wide aud 80 feet long, where, if a jierson could have balanced himself, he could actually have walked any- where on the hacks of the salmon, they were so thick. I have often heard travelers make this remark about salmon in small streams, so I know that it is not an uucommou thing in streams below a certain size, but to see salmon so thick as this in a river of So great volume as the McCloud must, I think, be a rare sight. About this time I kept a jiatrol on the bridge every moment, night aud day, and this precaution, though an expensive one, was well rewarded, for this vast number of salmon con- tinually striking the bridge with sledge-hammer blows were sure, in the course of time, to displace something and efl'ect a passage through to the upper side, and when one did succeed iu getting through, the others would follow with surprising rapidity, one after another, like a flock of sheep going through a break in a fence. This swarm of salmon just alluded to remained at the bridge and kept up the attack at one point or another for three days, and then fell back to the pools below, where, with occasional renewals of their atiacks, they remained until they were caught in the seine. The spawning season began the 20th of August, with the taking of 30,000 eggs from 7 fish. Every haul of the net brought an enormous quantity of salmou. Without our trying to capture many, the net wouhl frequently bring iu a thousand at a haul. We found very few ripe fish, how- ever, until the 2Sth of August, when tlie spawning season set in in good earnest, and from this date to the last day of taking eggs the yield was very large and remarkably regular. This leads mo to say that the most extraordinary feature about the fishing season this year was that the salmon iu the river did not seem to be diminished by our constant seining. We made enor- mous hauls with the net every day, spawned a large number of salmon, aud gave a liirge number to the Indians for their winter supplj', but alw.ays the next day the spawning salmon seemed to he as thick as ever. This abundance of salmon was a daily surprise to everyone. Every d,ay wewere regu- larly, though agreeably, disappointed. It was three weeks before we made any impression ou the spawners in the river. At last, about the 1.5th of September, the females with spawn beg.an to fall ofl" a little, but only a little. We had enough eggs by this time, however, aud stopped fishing oles, succeeded in driving them out. On these occasions the hauling of the seine was quite an exciting event. The Indian rwimmers, their dark heads just showing above the white foam, screaming and shouting in the icy waters and brandishing their long poles, came down the rapids at great speed, disappearing entirely now and then as they dove down into a deep hole. As soon as they approached within about 4 rods of the fishing skirt', the boat shot out from the shore, the second boatman braced himself and his oars for a quick pull down along the bank, the man at the stern of the first boat began paying out the seine, the fishermen cm the beach gathered at their respective ropes, the men on shore began throwing rocks in the rapids, and in a few moments the net was drawn to the beach with an enormous mass of struggling, writhing salmon, often weighing in the aggregate not less than 4 or 5 tons. Then the fishermen sprang into the water and examined the fish, taking the ripe ones to the corral and throwing the unripe ones back into the river until the net was emptied. Then all was quiet again and the men proceeded to take the eggs from the ripe salmon which they had captured. This year, in packing eggs, we averaged 500,000 an hour: Had not the character of the packing, as shown by the way in which the boxes were finally opened, been made the subject of nnnsuiil commendation from the parties who were engaged in unpacking the eggs at their destination, I should hardly venture to say how rajjidly they were packed, lest it might be thought to imply undue haste or want of care. I will, however, under the circum- stances, state that the eggs were actually jiacked at the rate of 500,000 an hour, and I will add my own testimony also, that I never saw eggs packed with more care, fidelity, and pains, the rapidity with which the work was dispatched being wholly the result of experience and skill and the enthusiasm with which everyone employed did the part of the work which fell to his share, — (United States Fish Commissioner's Report, 1878, page 7t)2. ) We liad an Indian scare this year and the War Department sent us rifles tind ammunition. It was e.xtremely unpleasant for a few weeks at the station, but it resulted in no actual injury. It will be remembered, perhaps, that during the pre- vious year a gigantic plan had been arranged for the universal njirising of all the Indian tribes between the Missouri on the east and tlie Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevadas on the west. This came very near being successful, and if it had not been broken up, as it was, by the vigilance and activity of the United States troops it would have resulted in widespread calamity in the sparsely settled regions of the West. Fortunately, General Howard gave it a deathblow in the (;aptureof Chief Jose])h and his band near the IMissouri, but the infection spread as far west as McCloud River, and for a few weeks rendered life there anything but agreeable. In 1S7'J the e.xperiment was tried of putting two sacks across the McCloud, one above tbe seining-ground, wholly closed to the salmon, of course, and one below tbe seining-ground, partly open at the bottom. It was thought in this way that more lireeding salmon would remain on the seining ground, but it was not a success and the results did not warrant a renewal of the experiment. We had a military guard at the station this year, and tlie piesence of soldiers was found very useful, but they were iiot needed this .season for protection from the Indians, who bad become (^uiet again PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 215 and had almost dio^jped eutirely their hostile demonstrations of the previous year. No trouble will ever be ex])erienced here again from the Indians as a body. The gradual disappearance of the natives has contributed to this result, and railroads and wliite settlements have done the rest. It was during this year that the McClond Kiver trout-breeding station was estab- lished in connection with the salmon station at Baird, from which station have ema- nated almost all the rainbow trout (*S'. irideus) which have now become so generally distributed over this country and Europe. The other trout of the McCloud liiver are the Dolly Varden {Sulrclinus malma) and a new species, the uo-shee, first described by Dr. Jordan as follows : Description of the iio-shee trout (.s'rt/ma ga'irdneri stonei), a new subspecies of trout from McCloud River. Salmo gairdneri stonei subsp. nov. Allied to the form called Salmo irideus, but distinguished by its small scales, the number of scales in !i transverse series being; about 155, 82 before dorsal, where they are small and imbedded, 25 above lateral line. Teeth fewer and smaller than in var. irideus, those ou the vomer in a single zigzag series. Axillary scale of ventral small. Pectoral H in head. Eye large, ii in head. Maxillary two-tenths. Upper part plain greenish. Spots small and sparse on dorsal, adipose fin, and caudal ; a few spots only onposterior part of the boily." A faint red lateral band; cheeks and opercles with red; no red between branches of lower jaw. Depth 4 in length. Anal rays 11. Described from a specimen 14 inches in length, eollecred by Livingston Stone, in McCloud Kiver, at Baird, Cal. This form is well known to the Indians and to the fishermen on the Upper Sacramento. Accord- ing to Mr. Stone, the Indian fishermen say that it is abundant in the McCloud Kiver, about 8 miles above Baird. They are larger iu size than the ordinary irideus, one having been taken weighing 12 pounds. Named for Livingston Stone, director of the United States fish-hatchery at Baird. Nothing of special interest occurred in 1880, but the next year, 1881, was made memorable by the extraordinary rise in McCloud River, which carried away almost the entire station in one night : The month of January was attended by a rainfall wholly unprecedented' in northern California since its settlement by white men. Forty-seveu inches of water fell in Shasta during this month, and iu tlie mountains where the fishery is situated the fall must have l)een much greater. On the 27th of January the McCloud had riseri 12i feet, but the water had been higher than that in previous years, and still no one supposed that the l)uildings were iu danger. Again the river fell, but this time the fall was succeeded by the greatest rise of water ever known in this river before, either by white men or Indians now living. Duriug the first days of February the rain poured down in torrents. It ia said by those who saw it that it did not fall as rain usually falls, but it fell as if thousands of tons of water were dropped iu a body from the sky at once. Mr. J. 15. Campbell relates that near his house, in a cauyon which is dry in summer, the water in not many minutes became 30 feet deep, and the violence of the current was so great that trees 100 feet long were swept down, trunk, branches, and all, into the river. Ou the 2d of February McCloud River began to rise at the rate of a foot an hour. l!y 9 o'clock in the evening it was 16J feet above its ordinary level. The water was soon a foot above the danger mark, and the buildings began to rock and totter .as if nearly ready to fall. There was now no hope of s.aviug them or anything in them. At 2.30 a.m. February 3 they toppled over with a great crash, and were seized by the resistless current and hurried dowu the river. When the day dawned nothing was to be seen of the main structures which composed the United States salmon-breeding station on the McCloud Kiver. The mess-house, where the workmen had eaten and slept for nine successive seasons, and which contained the original cabin, 12 by 14 feet, where the jiioneers of the United States Fish Commission ou this coast lived duriug the first season of 1872; the liatehing-house, which, with the tents which had preceded it, had turned out 70,000,000 salmon eggs, the distribution of which had reached from New Zealand to St. Petersburg; the large dwelling-house, 'Rainfall at Shasta: January, 1881, 47 inches; February, 1881, 17.5 inches; total for the season, 109.7 inches. 216 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. to which improveinouts ami louveuienccs had beeu added each year for five years — these were all gone, every vestige of them, and nothing was to he seen in the direction where they stood except the wreck of the faithful wheel which through summer's sun and winter's rain hail poured 10(1,000.000 gallons of water over the .sahnon eggs iu the liatchery, and which now lay dismantled and ruined upon the tiathoats which had supported it, and which were hept Irom escaping by two wire cables made fast to the river bank. The river continued to rise the next forenoon until it reached a maximum height of 26it feet al>ove its summer level. This, of course, is not a very extraordinary rise for a slow river; but when it is remembered that the McCloud is at low water a succession of cascades and rapids, having an average fall of 40 feet to the mile, it will he seen at once what a vast volume of water must have beeu poured into this rapid river in a very short time, and with what velocity it must have come, to have raised the liver 26 feet when its natural fall was sweeping it out of the canyon so swiftly. Those who saw this mighty volume of water at its highest point, rushing through its mountain canyon with such speed, say that it was appalling, while the roai of the torrent was so deafening that persons standing side by side on the bank could not hear each other when talking in an ordinary tone of voice. It must be over two centuries since MeCloud River rose, if ever, as high as it did last winter. There is very good evidence of this on tlie very spot where the lishery was located, for just behiny tlie mayor of that town from spawn procured from the Trocadero aquarium. The tlcsh is dcscrilieil as most delicious; its color is nut mentioned. This was followed by the capture of several smaller specimens. It has also been stated that a fish of the same species, weighing over 12 pounds, was caught last April at the city of Montereaii. The editor rejoices that this matihless breed of sabnon Inis now been acclimated and probablywill soon abound in Fiance." "United States Fish Commissioner's Keport, Jiage xxxv, for ISSS, 220 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. It thus appears that altboiigli nature has evidently designed tliat tlie quiniiat salmon shall not take up its abode on the American shores of the Atlantic, the breed- ing of this fish seems to serve a legitimate and very valuable purpose in koei)ing up the supi)]y of its species iu its native waters of the Pacilic Slope; especially in view of the enormous drafts made upon these fish by the canneries and by the yearly increasing consumption of fresh and salted salmon. The prospect for the immediate future at Baird station is very ])r()mising. To begin with, it has a valuable and very efficient jilant in the way of buildings, apparatus, etc. At the ujiper or northern end of the station there is a large fenced corral or pasture for horses and cattle, and inclosed in this corral is a convenient stable and storehouse. Just below there is the hatching-house, with a (capacity of 10,0()0,{I(I0 or 12,000,000 salmon eggs. Then comes the engine house, with a good steam engine and pump. A few rods below are the foreman's residence and the comfortable and commodious mess bouse, and nearly adjoining a store and post-office and the residence of the postmaster. Other smaller structures near the seining-ground complete the list of biiildiniis at the station, with the excej)tion of the superintendent's residence on a hill 100 feet above, which overlooks all or nearly all the other buildings; and last, but not least, a ditch li miles long brings water from a neighboring creek into the hatching-house. The station has still, as it always had, the hearty good-will and cooperation of the California State Fish Commission, which alone is a most valuable aid to its efficiency. Salmon are now very abundant in the Sacramento and McClond, and are on the increase. The situation of the station and its adaptability to its purpose are almost ideal. McCloud Eiver, on the banks of which it stands, is not only cold, clear, and very inviting to the salmon, but it is almost the only cold tributary of the Sacra- mento that has not been roiled by gold niiiung, in consequence of which the salmon come into the McCloud to breed in the summer, not only from choice, but also from necessity. The geological formation of the land about the river is not favorable for gold, which probably insures its safety indefinitely from gold miners. It is also an Indian country. There is not a white family on the McCloud from its mouth almost to Mount Shasta, except those who live at the station and at the old trout-pond station of the Fish Commission. Furthermore, most of the land in the ]\IcCloud Canyon is nnproductive, which is another protection against the advent of white men, and as long as white men keep away from the river the salmon in it will retain their primeval habits and abundaju'c. The station also is situated in a United States reservation, which secures it from intrusion by land-jumpers or evil-minded people who might interfere with the salmon and salmon fishing. And, what I must not forget to add, it is located just at the junction of McClond Eiver and the California and Oregon stage road, which places the station, though in one of the wildest parts of California, in immediate touch with the civilized world. All these advantages make this station an ideal place for its purpose, and bespeak for it, for many years to come, an eflflcient and nseful career. And it can be further said of this station, with justifiable pride, that after a quarter of a century's service it still remains the only station in the United States that can produce every year a satisfactory quota of eggs of the summer run of quinnat salmon. Bull U, S. F. C 1896. (To face page 220.) Plate 76. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 221 METHODS EMPLOYED BY THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION ON THE PACIFIC COAST FOR CAPTURING BREEDING SALMON, TAKING AM) SHIPPING THE EGGS, ETC., WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BAIRD STATION, CALIFORNIA. CAPTURING THE BREEDING SALMON. The first Pacific Coast salmon captured in the United States for breeding purposes were cauglit in an Indian "basliet trap," on McGIoud River, in 1872. The reason that they were taken in this way was because there had been no time for making prepara tious for catching the salmon in any other way, the writer, who had been commissioned by Professor Baird, United States Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries, to procure eggs of these salmon, having arrived on the McCloud just in the midst of the spawning season. Professor Baird's report for that year reads as follows: The propriety was strongly urged at the I5oston meeting of sending some experienced tish-culturist to the west coast for the pur|)ose of securing a large amount of spawn of the California salmon. At the suggestion of the meeting, Mr. Livingston Stone was engaged to undertake this work, and pro- ceeded to California as soon as he could arrange his affairs for the purpose. The experiment was, of course, uncertain, in the entire absence of any reliable information bearing upon the natural history of the species. It was not even knowu at what i)eriod they spawned, although Mr. Stone was assured by professed experts, on his arrival in California, that this occurs late in the month of September. After nnuh fruitless imiuiry, Mr. Stone at last learned, chiefly through Mr. B. H. Redding, lish commissioner of California, and through the chief engineer of the Central Pacihc Railroad, that the Indians speared salmon on McCloud River, a stream of the Sierra Nevada, emptying into Pitt River 320 miles nearly due north of San Francisco. Proceeding to this station, in company with Mr. .John G. Woodl)ury, of the Acclimatization Society, Mr. Stone immediately set to work in erecting the neces- sary hatching estal)li8hment, although, on account of the distance from any settlement and the absence of special facilities, he found the undertaking both diflicult and expensive. The efforts of Mr. Stone and his party were prosecuted nniutermittingly, day and night, for a sufficient length of time to i)rove that the season had almost entirely passed and that but few spawning fish remained. The basket trap above mentioned consists of a partial obstruction across the river, made of wickerwork, in form having a general resemblance to the letter V, with the angle downstream. At the apex of the angle is a wicker basket, from which, if the lish fall into it, they can not escape. It should be mentioned here that after the breeding salmon ascend the river to spawn, they fall back after spawning, and gradually float, tail first, down the river, though occasionally they fall back in this way before spawning. These traps are put across the river by the Indians iu order to capture the salmon, without, of course, any regard to the eggs they may contain. Fortunately, after the arrival of the writer on the IMcCloud, a few salmon that had not spawned fell into these traps, and for a slight money consideration given to the Indians the fish were obtained and their eggs secured for maturing. As soon as circumstances rendered it practicable, a seine was procured and sein- ing was begun in regular form in McCloud Itiver; and from that time till now this method of seining with a sweep seine has been the best and the only successful method of capturing the parent salmon in the McCloud. Several experiments, however, have been tried, which may be worth mentioning, perhaps, simply to show that they are not satisfactory. 222 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. One of these experiments was made at Baird station by using fyke nets, set in McOIoud Eiver. In a small stream witliout too strong a current tbis method might be employed advantageously, but in the rapid current of the M<'Cloud, whioli. tliougli not a wide stream, carries a large volume of water, the fyke net experiment ])r()ved a complete failure. One or more large wooden tra])s have almost every year been built into the rack which extends across the river, and at times, especially during a rain storm accom- panied by a marked rise in the river, large numbers of salmon are taken, but at other times only a few, and at all times only a small percentage of spawners are captured in the trai>. The trap is quite a valuable auxiliary to the seine, but it would be a poor dependence if relied upon exclusively, because, although it will secure a great many unripe flsh, the ripe ones, which are the ones that are wanted, finding an obstruction iu their way, settle back to tlie spawning-grounds below and remain there. Large dip nets have been occasionally used at the Clackamas station, iu Oregon, the tishermeu standing on the rack at night and dipping below it. Toward the end of the season this method secures a considerable number of spawners. but it involves labor and expense, and after all it is an open question whether most of the spawners taken with the dip nets would not have been captured in the regular course of fishing The following plan deserves a brief description, as it is, 1 think, uni(iue among methods employed by tishculturists for capturing salmon: There not being any entirely satisfactory seining-grounds at the Clackamas station, and the river just below the rack being shallow, we resorted to the Indian method of fishing. The aversion of the salmon to lieadiug downstream is well known, but when they are very much frightened (stam]>eded) they will turn around and rush down- stream at their utmost speed. The Indians take advantage of this and build a dam of rock or wickerwork, or anything that will present an obstruction to the frightened flsh. This dam is shaped like the letter V, with the angle downstream, and at the angle, of course, is a large trap, which they can easily enter but can not escape from. This method of capturing the breeding salmon was the principal one employed at the Clackamas, and it worked very satisfactoiily. At Baird station, before it became customary to put a rack every year across the river, the seine fishing was exclusively done after dark, and was usually kept u]) all night. Since the rack has been used the seine has been hauled more or less in the daytime, with perfectly satisfactory results. We generally bt>giu fishing now about 4.30 a. m., and keep it up as long as the fishing warrants it. We begin again about 5 o'clock in the afternoon and continue as we do in the morning. The seines used at Baird station are from 120 to 170 feet long, made of about 28thread twine, with a 4-inch mesh and a 20 foot bag, tapering down to about G feet at the ends. The seines have to be double-leaded, on account of the powerful current of the McCloud. METHODS OF SPAWNING THE SALMON. All methods of spawning salmon are in general the same, as of course they must necessarily be. There are, however, some slight differences in details, chiefly in holding the parent fish and in the manner of impregnating the eggs. Where there is plenty of help and the salmon of medium size, the most expeditious way of holding the fish seems to be for the man who spawns the female salmon to hold PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 223 the head of the salmou in one hand and to press the spawn out with the other, another person being employed meantime in liolding the tail of the flsh to keep it still. This is the method uniformly adopted at Baird station. On the Columbia, however, where the salmon are larger and more unmanageable, the "straight-jacket," as it is called, is used. This is a sort of trough, made the average length of tlui salmou and hollowed out to tit in general the shape of the flsh. Across the lower end of the trough is a permanent cleat, and at the upper end a strap with a buckle. The fish, when manip- ulated, is slid into the trough, the tail going down below the cleat, where it is securely held, and the head being immedintely buckled in at the upper end with the strap. The flsh is now securely held, and is unable either to get away or do any damage by its flouuderings, and the eggs can be pressed out at leisure. The straight-jacket is almost indispensable with very large salmon, and a great convenience when the operators are short-handed. This is the method that has been generally employed at Clackamas station. There is one more method of holding the flsh that ought to be mentioned, which can be adopted with medium-sized salmon, and which might be called the one-man method. By this method, the operator holds the head of the salmon tightly between his knees, and, keeping the tail of the fish still with one hand, he presses out the ova with the other. This is a good way where there are only one or two men to attend to the spawning. IMPREGNATING THE EGGS. As in holding the spawning salmou, so in impregnating the eggs, all methods emi)loyed by enlightened flsh-culturists are, in their general features, the same, the main points to be secured in all cases being identical, viz, to keep the eggs perfectly dry till the milt is applied, and to use the utmost dispatch in causing the spermatozoa of the milt to mingle with the eggs after the eggs are expressed from the fish. The eggs, when they fli'st leave the fish, have such an active absorbing power that they will very rapidly absorb any liquid that they come iu contact with, and if taken in water will absorb the water so quickly that most of them become filled with water before the spermatozoa reach them, or rather before tliey reach the micropyle. But while it is a singular fact that the spermatozoa of the milt will die iu water in two to three minutes, a little water is necessary to stimulate them into efflcieut activity. Consequently, while the eggs should be taken perfectly dry, a little water should be added to the milt, but the instant this is done the slightly diluted milt should be poured on the eggs. If the eggs are taken in one pan and the milt in another, simultaneously, and mixed together the instant they are ready, a very high rate of impregnation may be secured. In actual practice at this station, one pan only has been generally used, and a very good impregnation has been secured in that way, but with only one pan the manipulations must be made quickly, and the rule must be observed to take the eggs dry and to introduce the diluted milt almost simultaneously with the taking of the eggs. To obtain a high rate of impregnation, these points must be secured: (1) The eggs must be taken dry. (2) The milt must be taken simultaneously with the eggs. (3) The milt must be diluted with a little water. (4) The eggs amd milt mixed together instantly after the diluting of the milt. 224 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. After the eggs have beeu impregnated, it is the custom to pour more water iu the pau in a few minutes, and then leave the eggs perfectly quiet until they separate, which in the water of McCloud River iu September (52° to 53° F.) usually takes about an hour. It should be added that the pans of impregnated eggs are placed iu a trough filled with river water to keep them from becoming too warm. After the eggs separate they are carefully washed from all particles of effete milt, and then carried in buckets to the hatching-house. Here they are measured and placed in tlie hatching-trays. HATOHING THE EGGS. At liaird station the AVilliamson troughs with deej) trays have been used for hatching the eggs. This plan has been found to be, in the writer's judgment, the best thing yet devised for maturing salmon eggs on a large scale. The trays used are really wire-netting baskets, about lli inclies wide by 2-1 inches long, and deep enough to bring the top of the trays an inch or two above the water, which is 5 or G inches deep iu the Williamson troughs in which they were placed. Into these trays we pour 2 gallons of salmon eggs at a time. This makes the eggs 12 or 15 tiers deep, and yet they suffer no injury whatever from being so x>ded up, one explanation of this being that the water all the time farcing its way up through the eggs loosens them so that they do not feel the weight of those above them, while at the same time it reaches every egg and furnishes a fresh supply of air to them all. The advantages of this method are: (1) The top of the tray or basket is out of the water and always entirely dry; ccmsecjuently in handling them the hands arc^ always dry. (2) ]>y tilting one end of the tiay or basket up and down a little, or by lifting the whole basket and settling it gently back again in its place, the white eggs will be forced to the top. Conseciueutly no feather is required in picking over the eggs, and thus the injuries very often iutlicted with the feather are obviated. (3) The top of the basket being above the water, the eggs can never run over tlie top nor escape in any way, which is a great advantage over the shallow trays. (4) The whole thing is so simi)le that nothing simpler that answers the purjwse can be conceived. There is no complication of i>arts. There is nothing, in fact, to look after or move but the basket itself. (5) Finally, it economizes space. Fifty thousand eggs can be kept on a super- ficial area of 2 square feet. Two troughs 20 feet long and 1 foot wide will, by this method, carry 1,000,000 salmon eggs. Th' space in this trough, as in other hatching-troughs, is divided into compart- ments a trifle longer than the trays that are used to contain the eggs. The peculiar feature of the trough is that at the lower end of each compartment a cleat or partition, extending entirely across the trough, reaches from the bottom almost to the top, and another similar partition at the upper end of the compartment reaches from the toji almost t() the bottom of the trough. The water is consequently forced to flow under the up])er i^artitiou and over the lower partition, and in order to do this it must neces- sarily ascend through the trays of eggs. Two results are secured by this method: (1) The trays may be made several inches deep and nniy be filled at least half full of eggs. (2) A good but gentle circulation is continually maintained through the eggs. Bull. U, S. F, C, 1896. (To face page 224.) Plate 77. cr o -. o o c PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THK PACIFIC COAST. 225 An unusual advaiitixge is giiiued in consequeuce, viz, ten times as many eggs cau be liatched in the same space and with tlie same sui)ply of water as by the old methods. My report for 1874-75 speaks as follows of these hatching-troughs: Too much cau not be said iu praise of these hatching-trays. With them it is only necessary, in picking out the white eggs, to raise tlie tray a little ways out of the water and gi^ntly innnerse it again. Tlie upward pressure of the water throws the deaaird, with a ton or so of ice. The crates of salmon eggs in the meantime were forwarded by wagon from Baird. They were then packed into the car and the car sent down to Sacramento and lillcd np w ith ice; on the same day it left for Chicago on the regular jiassenger tiaiii of the Central racitic. The method of packing with moss, as above described, has always been employed at this station for sliii)ping eggs over long distances, but for short distances the Annin packing box is used. This box is too well known to need description. 1 will only say that in my experience it has always answered its purpose admirably. We have frequently even found a.. few eggs alive in the return boxes, that had been overlooked in unpacking and which had remained in the box two or three weeks. The following excellent tabulated statement,' prepared by Mr. Smiley, may not be out of place here. Tabic Klioiriiii/ the snrcvua in ti-iiiispoyliiiii iDiil hntching SI, 193,000 nalmun eijiis. state to -ftiiicli (■nnsigued. Colorado CniiiK'Cticut lUillnis Inwa K;tii-*as Kentucky JlaillK Alarvland Massachusetts. . ili. Iiigan Miiiii.s.jta Missouri ;Nebraska Xf\ ada Kt-w Hamp.shire Xew .Jersey Kew York North Carolina . Ohio Peuiisvlvania. .. Rhode Islaud ... South Carolina. . Tennessee Utah \'irj;inia West Viriiinia . . Wisconsin Total Number of Ggjrs sent from McCioud Kiver. Received at State hatcheries. Loss in hatching and transport- ing to waters. Young actually introduced. Number lost. Per cent. 16 Number. Per cent. 565, 000 565, 000 92, 100 472, 900 84 1, 410, 000 1,390,000 191,714 13 1, 198, 286 87 1, 030, 000 930. 000 362, 300 39 567, 700 61 1,050,000 1, 100, 000 86, 800 8 1,013,200 93 400, 000 400. 000 20, COO 5 380, 000 95 355, 000 350, 000 232, 27a 60 1)7.725 34 215, (JOO 165, 000 77, 300 47 87. 700 53 4, 615, 000 4, 440. 000 1, 175, 601 29 3,264,399 71 740, 000 728, 000 250, 001) 36 409, COO 64 3, 908, OHO 3, 868, 000 618, 979 16 3, 249, 000 84 2. 825, COO 2, 627, 500 1,751,750 64 875. 750 36 410. 000 400. 000 64,000 10 336. 1)00 84 710, noo 6011, 000 110. OCO 18 490, 000 82 250, UOO 250, 000 50, 000 20 20C, 000 80 55.5, 000 467, OOO 37, 960 8 439, 540 93 2, 480, 000 2, 430, OOO 330, 371 14 2, 099. 629 84 1,135,000 980, 000 144, 790 15 835, 210 85 1,100,000 1, 117. 500 369, 500 33 748.000 07 500, 000 .'iOO, 000 127, 500 26 372,500 74 2, 440, 000 2, 385, 000 483. 500 20 1,901,500 80 340, 000 250, 000 100, OOO 600, 000 1. 270, 000 220, 000 333, 000 (a) 025, 000 1,285,000 40, 000 121, 000 (1) 114,500 3.58, 500 18 36 («) 18 28 180,000 312, COO (a) 510, 500 926, 60O 82 64 («) 82 72 810, 000 1,100.000 785, OOO 1, 130, 000 47, 625 300, 400 6 27 737, 375 829, 000 94 73 31, 193, 000 30, 071, 000 7,567,465 25 22, 504, 035 75 a No report received. It will be seen by the above table that the gratifying average of 75 per cent of all the 30,000,000 eggs distributed from Baird station in the ten years from 1872 to ISSl, inclusive, were actually hatched out, and the fish deposited in the waters of the Atlantic States. 'United States Fish Commissioner's Report, 1881, page 837. Bull U S F C 1896 To face page 226.1 Plate 78. PACKING SALMON EGGS AT CLACKAMAS HATCHERY INTERIOR OF HATCHING HOUSE, BAIRD STATION. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 229 I will, in couclusiou, quote some remaiks on the results of salmon breeding iu California from the report of the California State Fish Commission for 1893-94: Oni- salmou fishery is of the greatest imiiortauce to lis, as it furnishes a hirger supply by 800,000 pounds than any other food-lish, the catch beiug 4,848,810 pounds iu 1892. Hatching operations were inaugurated iu 1873. In 1875 the take (of salmon iu the Sacramento and San Joaquin) was 5,098,781 pounds; in 1878, 6,.520, 768 pounds ; and in 1880, 10,837,400 pounds. In 1884, it became necessary to close the spawning station at Baird, as the salmon were pre- vented from ascending Sacramento Kiver to that point by blasting operations above Kedding, occa- sioned by the building of the railroad. Conse(£uently, the planting ceased and this station was not operated until 1888. The result was that the catch decreased until the effects of the resumption of the artificial batching again began to show in 1892. Since 1892 the increase has been very marked, and the results of the planting of fry each year are again demonstrated. Since 1892 the salmon pack at the canneries has steadily increased, while at the same time there has been a much larger demand for salmon in tli'3 markets of the State. The following table shows the decrease in the pack to 1892 and the subsequent increase, which we hope to see crontinued : Tear. Pounds. Cases. 1888 4, 039, 200 1,618,471 672, 121 170. 42.'') 1, 4'.I0, 927 1, 940, 009 61,200 25, 005 10, :to3 2,281 23, 330 28, 463 1890 . . 1891 1892 1893 1894 Through the kindness of Mr. J. P. Babcock, chief deputy of the California Fish Commission, I have just been furnished with the following interesting statistics, illus- trating the increase of salmon in the Sacramento, from 1803 to 1895. October of 1895 being a close month, the total number of pounds given for that year is, of course, less than it would otherwise have been. If, to supply the deficiency, we add the average of October, 1893 and 1894, to the total of 1895, which would then put the latter year on a basis of fair comparison with the two previous years, it makes the total of 1895 3,040,000 pounds, or a gain of nearly 25 per cent over the year 1893. Table showing namher ofpoiutda of fresh quinnat salmon handled in the San Francisco markets in 1S9S, 1894, and 1895. January . . . February.. March April May June July Aujiust September. Ortober . . , , November . Deoember.. Total . Months. Pounds. 137, 460 93, 263 139, 401 374, 478 325, no 70, 216 149, 217 575, 009 (a) 249, 753 183. 789 155, 090 2, 453, 446 1894. Poundi 128, 103, 163, 211, 243. 133, 117, 576, (a) 403, 276, 192, 2, 554, 600 T'nunds. 161.641 146, 250 155, 791 36.'), 387 401.787 161,989 115, .592 447, 094 (n) («) 431,453 326, 474 2,713,458 a Closed season. 230 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. NOTES OX THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE OUINNAT SALMON. The quiiiriat saliuou (Onrorhyncliiis tschinri/tscha) lias almost as many local names as the ISTortk American pautlier {Fvlin cuncolor). 1 think its tirst popular name was the "Columbia River salmon," and its flrst scientific uame, iit general use, was Salmo qiiiinidt. Time and closer acquaintance with the fish has robbed it of both these names. What its most accepted popular name is at present it would be hard to say, but its generally received scientific name is now Oncorhynclno; tscliiiiri/l.'^chft, this Russian cognomen having been found to supersede by many years the Sdliiio ijninnat of (lairdner & 8ucldey. The origin of the term "quinnat" is involved in obscurity. Several exijlanations have been ottered for it, but the most probable seems to be that the name was derived from the Indian name (^"""""'^0 of a tributary of the Columbia, where the finest salmon of the river were supposed to be caught. Every- one knows the tendency of every article to take the name of the place where it is found at its best; accordingly, the best Columbia River salmon being found in Quin- nault River, all the Columbia River salmon came to be called (^hdniiuiiU, or quinnai, salmon, the latter word being the former with the / dropped. Other xwpular names of this salmon are "siiring" salmon and "chinook" salmon, by which names it is commonly known on the Columbia River. On the Sacramento River it is known simply as "salmon," there being no other kind of salmon to amount to anything in the Sacramento. Its name in the Chinook dialect is "tyee" salmon (king salmon), by which latter name it is known farther north and on the Yukon. The local Indian name for salmon on the 3IcCloud is "uoolh." The following is Dr. Suckley's description of the quinnat salmon, taken from the Uniteil States Fish Commissioner's Report, 187-'-73, page 105: Salmo quinnat Richardson. Sp. Ch. — Adult. — Head pointed and large, forming about a fourth ol the length from the snout to the end of the scales on the caudal. Dorsal outline regularly arched. Caudal deeply cut out (in the dried specimen forlced), snout cartilaginous, as iu .«. mliir. Chin ]«)intcd, a triangular bare projection extending beyond the teeth. (Jeneral tint of the back, bluish gray, changing after a fe%v hours' removal from water into mountain green ; sides ash-gray, with silvery luster; belly white; baclv above the lateral line studded with irregular rhomboidal or star-like sjjots, some of tlieui oscillated ; dorsal fm and gill cover slightly reddish; tips of the anal :ind jiectorals lilackish gray; the dorsal and caudal thickly studded with round and rhomboidal spots; back of the head sparingly marked with the same. The whole body below the lateral line, with the under fins, destitute of sjiots. (liairduer in Rich., F. B. A., Fishes, 220.) .Scales large, liranchiostegal rays varying from l(i to 20. The quinnat salmon or chinook salmon is very widely distributed on the Pacific! coast. A.S far south as the mild climate of Santa Cruz in Calitbrnia it is caught, and as far uortli as the frozen waters of the Arctic it is found in abuiulance; and uo Pacific Coast stream from the Sacramento to the Yukon is found without it. The quinnat salmon, when freshly caught and in its iirime. is a very handsome, plump-lookiug, silvery fish, more or less covered with fine black spots; and though it shows its claim to royal lineage in its whole appearance, it does not possess the graceful hues and curves of its Atlantic cousin, Sulmo naJar, which, however, it very much resembles. In flavor, also, its lU'sh, though good when cooked, suffers from Bull. U. S, F, C. 1 896. (To face page 230.} Plate 79. !0 fC X ^ %>. Bull. U. 5. F, C. 1896. (.To face page 230.) Plate 80. 3 o > 8- Bull. U S. F C. 1S96. (Tn (ace page 230.) Plate 81. K o a 33 X -c P z c o o_ I c (T U1 arisoii ^itli the inimitable salmon of tbe Atlantic; and still another charge is brought up against it, viz, the old but true iiulictment tliat it does not rise to the fly. Nevertheless, with all these handicaps, it holds a high place among the fishes of the seas for beauty, gameness, food value, and commercial value, in the two latter points of which, on account of its almost incredibly vast numbers, it completely eclipses the Atlantic salmon. In all the rivers in which it is found it occurs iu great multitudes, and in the upper waters of these streams tlie okl story, so hard for the skeptical to accept, is true, that the salmon are found at certain seasons so thick that one could cross the stream dry-shod on their backs if he could keep his balance. There is no month of the year when there are not salmon in the Saci-amento, but their first api^earance in abundance on the Pacific Coast of the United States is at Santa Cruz Bay, in January. Here they are caught in very considerable numbers by hook and line, either by trolling or from a boat at anchor, as mackerel or iierch are caught. Through January and February they are increasing in the main Sacramento, but do not become abundant till ]\[arch, when they swarm up the river and are caught in great quantitiss in nets, as also in April. In May, June, and July they fall off, but reappear iu great numbers in August. They fall off a little in tlie latter part of September, and continue to grow scarcer in the main river till the end of the year. The number of fresh salmon shipped from Eio Vista to San Francisco in the year 1872 was as follows : Jauuary 792 August 1,496 February 1,581 ! Seiitembcr 2,335 Miu-ch 1,'J45 I October 583 April 3,354 November 441 May 4, 40S I December 390 June 1,201 ' July 1,145 ! Total 19,671 Their movements iu the Columbia are quite different. Here tlicy make their first appearance in February, thougli iu very small numbers. The main body arrives in May, June, and especially in July, when the run is enormous. Tlie May salmon are largest. Perhaps the most correct view to take of the running of tlie salmon is to consider all the salmon as included in one run, beginning in February, increasing in May and June, and culminating in July; though they might also be legitimately divided into three runs, the first or meager run coming in February, Jlarch, and April, the second or full run in May and June, and the third or maximum run iu July. After July they diminish rapidly, and soon almost entirely disappear from the main river. The writer has always been told by the professional fishermen on the Sacramento and Columbia that the salmon come down the ocean from the north to the mouths of the rivers, but their regular appearance on the coast of southern California early in January, their subsequent appearance in the Sacramento in February, and their still later appearance in the Columbia in Mar(;h seem to indicate quite conclusively that the salmon came up the coast to these rivers from points farther south, to which they ha\e migrated for a sojourn during a portion at least of the winter months. It is probably true of most anadromous fish which leave the ocean to go up fresh- water streams to spawn, that they eat little or nothing after they get above tide water. At all events, as soon as the quiuuat ''salmon, coming from the sea, strike fresh water their appetites begin to weaken, their throats begin to narrow, and their stomachs begin to shrink. This does not at first, however, entirely prevent them from feeding, but it changes them enough to enable them to overcome the temptation to return to 232 15ULLETIX OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. their well-stocked feeding grouuds in the salt ocean; and the longer they remain in fresh water the greater the changes become, and the temptation to tarn back for food correspondingly less. There is i)robably no one specified timowben an abrupt change comes which deprives them in au instant of their ability and desire to feed, but in the writer's opinion the transformation comes on gradually, increasing constantly day by day from the time they leave tide water till, at tlie near approach of the spawning sea- son, their throats find stomachs become entirely incapacitated for receiving food, and the desire and ability to feed leave them entirely; but, notwitlistanding their scanty supply at first and their entire abstinence afterwards, the great reserve of superfluous flesh and blood, which they bring with them in their own bodies from the bounHful ocean, enables them witli little or no food in their stomachs to keep their vital organs in vigorous activity until their momentous mission up the fresh-water streams is accomplished.'" In the ocean their staple food consists of smaller flsh. It is a singular fact regarding the (juinnat salmon that those, at least, that spawn along distance from the ocean never return td it again alive. They all die oh their S2}awni)t//-(i)-uun(ls. This fact, I am aware, has been disputed many times, and is by no means universally accepted now, but its truth has been i)roved so repeatedly and conclusively that it is no longer open to (juestion. My report for 1872-73 says on this point: In March, when the siilnion iirst arrive in the McClond, they are in tine condition. They are now bright and silvery, with shining scales. They are fat and excellent for the table, but not very large. The spawn in the females is very small. Their flesh is of a deeT> red color. The ui.ales and females are almost indistinguishable at this time. This state of things remains till August, except that the salmon gradually deteriorate in quality and the eggs increase in size. The first marked change in the fish takes pliico a little before the middle of August. The salmon then become very black. The males grow deep and thin, and the dog-teeth begin to show themselves and to increase rapitlly in size. The females are now big with spawn, and the sexes are easily distinguishable. From this time they rapidly deteriorate. Their llesh shades off to a light, dirty pink. They become foul and diseased, and very much emaciated. Tlieir scales are wholly absorbed in the skin, which is of a dark olive hue, or black. Blotches of fungus appear on their heads and bodies, and in various places are long white patches where the skin is jjartly worn oft'. Their fins and tails become badly mutihited, and in a short time they die exhausted. By the first of October most of the fish that were in the river in August are dead. And again: At the spawning season the changes, especially in the male salmon, are very marked. Both sexes lose their bright and silvery coat. Their scales become absorbed into the skin, which grows very slimy and perfectly snu)otli, like that of a catfish or hornpout. Their color changes into a dirty black, and then into a dark, unclean olive color. Blotches of fungus and large patches of white, caused by abrasion of the skin, appear all over them. The fins and tail become mutilated. Their bodies grow foul and emaciated. Their eyes get more or less injured; they often become blind; swarms of parasites gather in their gills and sticlv to their fins. Tlieir bodies reach the extreme ]>oiut of attenuation, and, as soon as tlie spawning is accomplished, tliey die. Xo anadromous fish varies so nuich in size as the quiniiat salmon, and this is one of its most notable characteristics. In the Sacramento the average weight at Saia'a- mento City in 18!)2 was thought to be about 20 pounds, and the largest weighed GO IJOunds. In the Columbia the cannery men jmt the average weight at about 2.? ])ounds, and the largest on record weighed 83 pouiuls. ' "The Chinook Salmon:" Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 1894. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 233 Iu the Yukon IIIO pound salmon are said to be not rare, and the writer met on Kadiak Ishind a professional salmon hshermau who said he had seen a Yukon salmon that weighed 125 pounds. The smallest quiuuat salmon that the writer Las ever seen weighed 3i pounds, and was a female with perfectly developed ova, which were taken and afterwards hatched into healthy young salmon fry. The salmon that are taken at Baird station, on M(;Cloud liiver, iu California, vary widely iu size iu different years. Leaving out the grilse, or partly matured males, the average weight of the salmon manipulated at this station the last few years is estimated at about 13 pounds each. On the other hand, iu 1878, the average weight of the spawners taken in August, after the eggs had been expressed from them, was only 8^ pounds. Below will be found the weight of 82 salmon spawned and weighed after spawning, ou the 29th of August, 1878: Number. Weight in ponnds. Number. Weight iu pounds. Number. Weight in pounds. Number. Weight iu pounds. 1 16 8 10 9 14 6 12 7 8 7 8 15 7 8 6 8 7 7 7 8 7 22 17 7 7 8 15 9 8 7 U 14 14 7 17 13 8 7 9 14 5 7 17 43 5 5 7 7 8 7 7 7 6 8 9 6 6 5 8 7 7 7 10 64 5 6 8 7 5 7 6 7 7 7 7 6 11 5 7 8 5 2 23 44 65 3 24 45 66 4 25 46 67 5 26 47 68 6 7 27 48. . . 69 28 49 70 8 29 50 71 9 30 51 7*) 10 11 31 52 73 32 53 74 .... 12 .. 33 54 75 13 34 55 76 14 35 56 77 15 36 57 58 78 16 37 79 17 38 59 18 39 60 81 19 40 61 82 20 41 62 21 42 63 ... In the Sacramento aud the Columbia the appearauce of the salmon is very regular, the numbers, however, showing a very marked dependence on the number of young fry hatched at the breeding stations the corresponding j-ears. There has never been to the writer's knowledge a serious failure of the salmon iu any year to make their appearance in the Columbia, and only one iustance of iailure in the Sacramento, viz, in 18(5(), which was doubtless caused by the debris (slickens) turned into the river by the operations of tiie hydraulic miners. In ascending the rivers the males usually precede, followed closely by the females. Tliis continues through the season, in consequence of which, at the end of the season at a breeding station, there are usually females left over after the run of males has ended. The rate of progress of these salmon up the rivers varies at different seasons of the year. In ascending the Columbia, they are usually from one to three weeks passing from the mouth of the river to Clifton, about 20 miles. They first appear at Tiie Dalles in the middle of April, about two months after their first appearance at the mouth of the Columbia. They appear iu great quantities at The Dalles Jibout the middle of June, or two months after they appear in large numbers at the bar. The falls of The Dalles are 200 miles up the river, which would indicate that their rate of progression to that point is about 100 miles a mouth. 234 BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. It will be noticed, however, that these statements are made in regard to the early run of salmon. The later lish probably travel more rapidly, and the I'all run, in the 8acrameiito at least, make very tiuick time from the mouth to the headwaters of the river. To what extent the salmon in the ocean are destroyed by larger predaceons fish is, of course, not known, but there is no doubt that great numbers are destroycsd full grown at the mouth of the Sacramento by seals and sea, lions. After the salmon ascend the rivers they are comparatively safe, except from otters and ospreys and • lisher cats, but tlie number that these destroy is very small compared with the whole. Strange to say, the ([uinuat salmou is spawning somewhere on the Pacific Coast waters of the United States seven moutlis in the year. In January they are spawn- ing in Eel River; in July the summer run are spawning at the headwaters of tlie ]\lc01oud and Little Sacramento; in August and September farther down these rivers; in October the fall run has beguu at the McGloud and below, and this run continues spawning through November and into December. In the Columbia and its headwaters there is, so far as I can learn, only one spawning season, beginning at the headwaters possibly as early as July. At Clacka- mas station, 125 miles from the mouth of the Columbia, they begin to spawn about the middle of September and <'ontinue until jSTovember. When the salmon are prime (just from the ocean), both sexes look very much alike — in fact, they are almost identical in their appearance; but as the spawning season approaches, and they gather on the spawning-grounds, the difference in the looks of the males and females becomes more and more marked, and during the sx)awning season the difference is very consi^icuous. The now fully developed ova of the female gives her sex a peculiarly rounded and jilump ajipearance, but the shape and expression of her head does not change much. On the other hand, the male grows very deep and thin. His head flattens, his upper jaw curves like a hoolv over the lower, his eyes assume a peculiarly sunken and mali- cious expression. Large, powerful white teeth, like dogs' teeth, api)ear on both jaws, and the whole creature acquires an ugly and ferocious ai)pearance. A few days before they are ready to spawn they hollow out cavities with their heads and tails in the gravel beds of the river where there is a vigorous current, and here in due time the eggs and milt of the parent fish are deposited. They cover tlie eggs to a certain extent after they are deposited, but not so much as eastern salmon {S. salar) do. After spawning, they gradually drop down the river with the current. The (piinnat salmon is not so prolific as the Atlantic salmon, 300 or 400 eggs to each pound weight of the parent fish being about a fair average. An early report of tlie writer placed the average much higher, but there must have been some mistake about it, for subsequent observations have not confirmed the statement. At Baird station the summer run of sahnon usually begins to spawn about the 20th of August and continues until the last week in September. The fall run begins to spawn about the 25th of October and continues probably till (3hristmas (u- later, the high water at that season rendering it impracticable to ascertain just when the spawning of the fish ceases. The eggs are about five-sixteenths of an inch in diameter, and of a deep salmon- red color, with a specific giavity sufficiently greater than that of water to cause them to sink at once to the bottom when placed in water. PROPAGATION OF SALMON ON THE PACIFIC COAST. 235 Tlie first eggs of the summer rim taken at Baird station liatcli in about 35 days, in an average water temperature of about 54° F. In their natural spawning-beds in the river itself, the eggs of the summer run are probably all hatched by the first week in December, and most of the eggs of the fall run by the 1st of March. It is not known what percentage of eggs is hatched in Ihe natural beds of the river, but by careful impregnation !)5 per cent or more can be hatched artificially, eveu when the hatching is conducted on a large scale. Very little trouble is experienced iu hatching the eggs, and when they are hatched no more beautiful sight can be imagined than that of the swarms of young, ex(inisitely colored alevins in the hatching- troughs. The alevins also remain very healthy with a suitabh; supiily of water, 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 conditions in the rivers they bury themselves under the gravel bed of the stream, where, although without any means whatever of defense or escape and utterly lielpless, 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 rapid iu their movements that it is a jiretty active 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 we see them they are ascending the rivers to continue their endless round of reproductive life. I can not close this subject without referring to the mystery which hangs over the question of the length of the stay of the (juinnat salmon in the ocean. The problem is this: There is not a shadow of a doubt that more than nine-tenths, if not ninety- uine hundredths, of the summer run of salmon that come up the tributaries of the Sacramento to spawn end their lives immediately after spawning, but the next year, before their progeny are inches long, another set of full-grown, inature salmon come up the river and spawn and die, and the next year the same, and so on. Kow, the question is, Where did this second lot and third lot come from, and ichere tvere they the year he/ore they cdme vp to the spairtiinf/urnnndsT If. being anadromous fish, all the Sucramento (|Uota of salnjon in the ocean came up to spawn any oiii^ year and died on the spawning-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 that are hatched difterent portions of the fish created from them may remain in the ocean different lengths of time before they reach the reproductive stage of life, which hurries them up the rivers to ])erpetnate their species. This would supply a solution of the problem, but. like the theory of evolution, it is not at present supported bv evidence. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii* 021 485 776 5