UC-NRLF 
 
 J \Y:*-:^. K ; : 
 
 MisfexSG 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
i 
 
THE STOEMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT 
 
 THE SALMON. 
 
THE 
 
 NATUKAL HISTOBY OF THE SALMON, 
 
 AS ASCERTAINED BY THE 
 
 RECENT EXPERIMENTS 
 
 ARTIFICIAL SPAWNING AND HATCHING OF THE OVA AND BEARING 
 OF THE FRY, AT STOEMONTFIELD, ON THE TAY, 
 
 WILLIAM \BROWN, 
 
 PERTH, 
 
 Secretary to the Literary and Antiquarian Society of Perth, 
 Author of " The Royal Palaces of Scotland," etc. 
 
 GLASGOW: 
 THOMAS MURRAY AND SON. 
 
 EDINBURGH: PATON AND RITCHIE. 
 LONDON: ARTHUR HALL, VIRTUE AND co. 
 
 1862. 
 
S327- 
 
 TO THE MEMBERS AND HONORARY MEMBERS OF 
 
 K)p'-9Ke8i rf Steoilmfo gangling (Ktafc, 
 
 WHO FIRST INTRODUCED 
 THE GRAYLING TO SCOTLAND, 
 
 AND HAVE BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN ITS ARTIFICIAL 
 PROPAGATION IN THE CLYDE, 
 
 THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT OF THE ARTIFICIAL 
 PROPAGATION AND REARING OF 
 
 THE SALMON 
 
 IS BY PERMISSION MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED 
 BY ONE OF THEIR NUMBER, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PEEFACE. 
 
 THE writer of these pages had his attention first 
 attracted to this subject by the experiments of 
 Mr Shaw of Drumlanrig from 1833 to 1838. 
 Previous to that time, with very few exceptions 
 the whole of those persons who were connected 
 with the salmon fisheries believed that the parrs, 
 which are so numerous in all salmon rivers and 
 streams, were a species of fish (sui generis), and 
 which never attained a larger size than seven or 
 eight inches; the principal use of which fish was 
 to afford sport to juvenile anglers, and to serve for 
 bait in the capture of larger fish by more ad- 
 vanced "Waltons." 
 
 Being a believer in the general parr theory, the 
 writer resolved to put Mr Shaw's statements to the 
 test; and having, in the month of February, 1836, 
 caught a dozen and a-half of parrs in the Tay, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 he kept them confined in a stream of running 
 water, -and by the month of May the whole of 
 them had become smoults ; but some had leaped 
 out of their confinement, in their struggle to find 
 their way to the sea, and were found dead upon 
 the side of the pond. This having convinced him 
 that what was called parr in salmon rivers, was, 
 in fact, the young salmon ere it became a smoult, 
 he entered with much earnestness into the arti- 
 ficial propagation scheme when it was started at 
 Stormontfield, and was present and assisted at 
 most of the manipulations. 
 
 The author would here record his best thanks 
 to Robert Buist, Esq., superintendent of the Tay 
 Fisheries (to whom belongs the merit of carrying 
 on the experiment, for it required no small amount 
 of intelligence and perseverance to unravel the 
 seeming discrepancies of Shaw and Young in the 
 natural history of the salmon up to the period of 
 the smoult state), for the assistance which he has 
 given the writer, while watching and taking part 
 in the various experiments as they progressed. 
 He would also acknowledge the services rendered 
 
PREFACE. 9 
 
 by Andrew Buist, Esq., the present tacksman 
 of Mr Ashworth's Galway Fishings, who, while 
 the experiment was carrying on at Stbrmont- 
 field, hatched the ova of salmon in a run 
 of spring water at a steady temperature of 44 
 degrees F., in fifty days spawned 18th January, 
 hatched 9th March. Also by C. F. Walsh, Esq., 
 Dundee (late of Perth), who was present at most 
 of the operations which he so graphically described 
 in the columns of the Field newspaper. 
 
 The descriptions given of the various processes 
 are from notes taken on the spot by the writer; 
 and as the notices of the Stormontfield experi- 
 ment, which have been already published, are 
 chiefly confined to paragraphs in newspapers, the 
 reports before the British Association, etc., ,he 
 sincerely trusts that the following Work will prove 
 acceptable to the public, and at the same time 
 tend to throw some farther light on the Natural 
 History of the Salmon. 
 
 CROFT COTTAGE, 
 PERTH, June, 1862, 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introduction, 17 
 
 Commencement of the Stormontfield Experiment, . . . . 23 
 
 Hatching-Boxes and Pond, 29 
 
 First Artificial Spawning of the Salmon Spawning of 1858, . . 36 
 
 Deposition of Ova, 38 
 
 Hatching of the Ova, 1854 Spawning of 1853, 40 
 
 First Migration of the Smoults, 1855 Hatching of 1854, . . 47 
 
 Hatching of 1855 Spawning of 1854, 48 
 
 Return as Grilse Hatching of 1854, 49 
 
 Third Spawning, 1855, 54 
 
 First Salmon of the Spawning of 1853 Hatching of 1854, . . 54 
 1856 Second Migration of Fry Spawned in 1853 Hatching of 1854, 55 
 
 Exodus, 1857 Spawning of 1855 Hatching of 1856, .. .. 63 
 
 Fourth Spawning, 1857, 69 
 
 Hatching of 1858, 71 
 
 Exodus of 1859 Hatching of 1858, 75 
 
 Spawning of 1859, 77 
 
 Hatching of 1860, 78 
 
 Exodus of 1861, 80 
 
 Natural History of the Salmon as learned from the Stormont- 
 field Experiment, 87 
 
 On the Advantages of the Artificial Propagation and Bearing 
 of the Fry of Salmon until they reach the Migratory 
 
 Period, 97 
 
 The Smoult or Young Salmon after Migration, 105 
 
 Return of Spawned Fish or Kelts as Clean Salmon, . . . . 106 
 
12 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 Do Salmon fall off in Condition on entering the Fresh Water? 108 
 
 Kelts or Spawned Fish, 109 
 
 Attempt to raise the Salmon from the Ovum to the Grilse State 
 
 Artificially, 116 
 
 APPENDIX, 128 
 
 EBKATA. 
 
 Page 26, 6th line from top, for " About 370 " read " A number of." 
 Page 54, 10th line from top, for "Poynton" read "Egerton Hall." 
 
SALMO SALAK, 
 
 DESCRIPTION. 
 
 HEAD, small in proportion to the size of the fish ; maxillary bones, also 
 the palate and tongue in the adults, set with sharp, stout teeth ; gill- 
 rays, never less than eight; opercle, posterior edge round, with a 
 black spot in the centre ; vertebrae, sixty ; dorsal fins, two ; the ven- 
 trals opposite to the middle of the first dorsal, the adipose dorsal 
 opposite the anal. The number of fin-rays are as follows : 1st Dor- 
 sal, 12 Pectoral, 13 Ventral, 8 Anal, 10 Caudal, 19. 
 
 The adult male fish is easily distinguished by the lower maxillary 
 bone and cartilage greatly protruding this is very remarkable in 
 spent or spawned fish. The tail of the full-grown salmon is straight 
 across, while in the grilse and young salmon it is forked. 
 
THE 
 
 NATUKAL HISTOBY OF THE SALMON. 
 
INTBODUCTION. 
 
 THE natural history of the salmon, previous to 
 the investigations and experiments of Messrs 
 Shaw and Young, was unknown. The general 
 opinion was that the salmon ascended the rivers 
 during the summer and autumn months, and 
 spawned in November and December; the fry 
 having been hatched in March and April, de- 
 scended the rivers as smoults in May and June 
 following. Whether our forefathers were of the 
 same opinion, we have no means of knowing ; but 
 we suspect, from the wise and salutary laws 
 which they made from time to time for the pro- 
 . tection of this fish, that they knew more about 
 its habits than was known at the commencement 
 of this century. The Act of James I.,* 1424, 
 c. 35, continued in force up to 1828, when it was 
 repealed by the Act 9 Geo. IV., c. 39 commonly 
 known as "Home Drunimond's Act/' which be- 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 B 
 
18 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 came law in 1828. For four centuries this old 
 Act of James I. regulated the close time in all the 
 rivers of Scotland, except the Tweed and the 
 Solway Frith and its tributaries; and which 
 proved very efficient for the protection of the 
 spawning fish, as the close time commenced on 
 the 15th of August, O.S., instead of as by Home 
 Drummond's Act on the 14th of September. 
 This additional month of open time allowed by 
 Home Drummond's Act to all methods of cap- 
 turing salmon, both by net and coble, and fixed 
 engines on the sea-coast, has gone far to accom- 
 plish the destruction of the fish in all the Scottish 
 rivers. Close time on the sea-coast, to be equal 
 to the same length of time on the rivers, should 
 commence a fortnight sooner; as a fish, caught 
 on the coast, many miles away from the mouth 
 of the river which it was trying to reach in order 
 to ascend for the purpose of spawning, would 
 take at least that time to reach the net and coble, 
 on the river; and hence the number of fish full 
 of spawn, and nearly ready for spawning, that 
 are caught at present from the 15th of August 
 (the commencement of the old time) until the 
 14th of September (the commencement of the 
 present close time). So, if we are to judge of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 19 
 
 the knowledge of our ancestors by the Act of 
 James I., we must come to the conclusion that 
 they knew more of the habits of the salmon than 
 was known forty years ago ; besides, for the four- 
 centuries in which this old Act was in force, no 
 stake or bag nets were to be found on our coasts. 
 Other Acts were, from time to time, made for 
 facilitating the ascent of the spawning fish and 
 the descent of the smoults; weirs, cruives, etc., 
 were particularly attended to, so that the fish 
 might have clear way. "Our Sovereign Lord and 
 the Three Estates of Parliament" seem to have 
 looked to the protection of salmon in a national 
 point of view as food for the common people; 
 for far greater protection appears to have been 
 given to the spawning fish and the fry, and the 
 penalties were more severe for infringing the 
 various Acts than at present. Hence we might 
 conclude, from the attention given to these sub- 
 jects, that more was known of the natural history 
 of the salmon by our ancestors than by us. 
 
 It is really astonishing to mark the prejudice 
 and gross ignorance of the natural history of this 
 fish, displayed by practical fishers at the present 
 time some of whom have been for forty years 
 connected with salmon fishings as exhibited in. 
 
20 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 their evidence before the Select Committee of the 
 House of Lords in I860.* We look in vain for 
 anything like the same want of knowledge 
 amongst the proprietors and rearers of stock on 
 the land. They are all alive to ascertain the true 
 history and character of the stock they deal in, 
 and also the best methods of increasing its 
 numbers and value as a marketable commodity. 
 A landowner, who has purchased a property 
 on which there is a small stock of game, when he 
 wants to increase it, does not shoot down what 
 remains, but re-stocks it from other properties 
 where the game is more plentiful, and carefully 
 destroying all the vermin that would prey upon it. 
 A knowledge of the history and habits of the 
 denizens of the water is certainly more difficult to 
 acquire than those of the land; but with regard to 
 the salmon, while in the fresh water at least, this 
 has been accomplished by those who have wit- 
 nessed the conducting of the Stormontfield opera- 
 tions; and all that is wanting for those who 
 
 * Appointed to inquire whether, having regard to the right of pro- 
 perty of the Crown and individuals in salmon fishings on the sea- 
 coasts and in the rivers and estuaries of Scotland, it is just and 
 expedient that any, and what, legislation should take place for the 
 regulation of such fishings ; so far as regards the use or prohibition 
 of bag nets, cruives, and other fixed nets and engines, and so far as 
 x close times or otherwise. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 21 
 
 would learn something more of the history and 
 habits of this noble fish, is to lay aside their 
 previously acquired notions and prejudices, and 
 to believe the facts which have been brought to 
 light by those most interesting and successful 
 experiments. 
 
NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON, 
 
 STOBMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT, 
 
 IN the summer of 1853, the late Dr Esdaile of 
 Perth published a letter, addressed to the salmon 
 fishing proprietors of the Tay, on the artificial 
 propagation of salmon, the result of which was 
 that a meeting of that body was held on the 19th 
 July. Dr Esdaile was present, and stated that 
 his attention had been called to the subject by 
 what had been written by Mr Thomas Ashworth 
 of Poynton, Cheshire, who, along with his brother, 
 Mr Edmund Ashworth, had purchased the Galway 
 salmon fishery in the Court for the sale of encum- 
 bered estates, Ireland, as a several fishery extend- 
 ing from Lough Corrib to the sea. Dr Esdaile then 
 introduced Mr Ashworth to the meeting,* who 
 said he had come to this part of the country to 
 
 * From the Perthshire Courier. 
 
24 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 gather all the information he could obtain, having 
 seen the letter of Dr Esdaile, addressed to salmon 
 fishing proprietors in the Tay, on the "Artificial 
 Propagation of the Salmon;" and it was at Dr 
 Esdaile's request that he had consented to stay 
 in Perth another day to attend the present meet- 
 ing. He (Mr Ashworth) had entertained the 
 opinion for a long time that it would be as easy 
 artificially to propagate salmon in our rivers as 
 it was to raise silk-worms on mulberry leaves, 
 though the former were under water and the 
 latter in the open air. He said that it was an 
 established fact, that salmon and other fish may 
 be propagated artificially in ponds in millions, at 
 a small cost, and thus be protected from their 
 natural enemies for the first year of their exis- 
 tence, after which they will be much more capable 
 of protecting themselves than can be the case in 
 the early stages of their existence. His brother 
 and he have at the present time about 20,000 
 young salmon in ponds, thus produced, which 
 are daily fed with suitable food. In the course 
 of last year, Mr Thomas Garnet and Mr Peel of 
 Lancashire informed his brother and himself that 
 Eobert Ramsbottom, a fishing-tackle maker at 
 Clitheroe, had, about two years ago, succeeded 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 2-5 
 
 in artificially filling a small pond with young 
 salmon. The plan adopted by him was a very 
 simple one. He, with great care, lifted the salmon 
 from the river into a tub of water, and extracted 
 their spawn, which was deposited in boxes filled 
 with water and gravel; they were placed in a 
 running stream, and by this means had produced 
 the young salmon. His brother, Mr Edmund 
 Ashworth, and himself having purchased "the 
 Gal way salmon fishery " in Ireland, they deter- 
 mined to try an experiment there for the artificial 
 propagation of salmon, under the superintendence 
 of Mr Ramsbottom. A suitable place having 
 been fixed upon at Outerard, operations were 
 commenced between the 20th December and the 
 1st of January last, which was about a month 
 too late, yet boxes were prepared in which the 
 spawn of the salmon was deposited. These boxes 
 were about 18 inches broad and deep, and 6 feet 
 in length, with a zinc grating in the sluice at 
 either end. There were twenty boxes in all, 
 which were filled with gravel or small stones to 
 the depth of six inches. To procure the ova and 
 milt of the female and male salmon, the fish were 
 taken by small nets on the spawn fords at night, 
 and instantly, and without injury, put into a tub 
 
26 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 one-fourth full of water. The female fish was 
 first turned on her back, one man holding the 
 tail, another running his hands down each side 
 from the head, and pressing lightly with his 
 thumbs, the ova were readily discharged into the 
 tub ; a similar course readily discharged the milt. 
 About 370 salmon were treated in the above 
 manner, and again returned to the river. Mr 
 Ashworth then explained how the ova and milt 
 were mixed in the tub, and the ova then taken out 
 of it with a cup and deposited in the boxes, when 
 they were covered with additional gravel. Mr 
 Ramsbottom supposed that there was put in the 
 boxes spawn sufficient for 40,000 ; however that 
 might be, there are at present about 20,000 young 
 salmon alive and thriving in these ponds, and 
 from two inches to three inches in length. Mr 
 Ashworth then, in answer to several questions 
 put by Mr Graham of Redgorton, stated that the 
 fine zinc gratings were used to prevent trout 
 and insects from getting into the ponds, as they 
 are very destructive to the salmon fry. He then 
 detailed, at some length, the mode adopted in 
 France for the artificial propagation of salmon, 
 carp, trout, and other species of fish. The boxes 
 there used were 3 feet in depth, 18 inches in 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 27 
 
 width, and 50 yards in length, and without 
 bottoms, but filled about 6 inches in depth 
 with clean gravel. In answer to other ques- 
 tions, Mr Ashworth said the ponds were about 
 20 yards in length, and 12 to 13 yards in 
 breadth, and that it was intended to keep in 
 the young salmon for ten months, when they 
 will have grown to about four inches in length. 
 They would then be able to take care of them- 
 selves on their way to the sea. He stated 
 also, that it was indispensable the young salmon 
 should be fed daily with chopped flesh meat. In 
 France they were fed on frog's flesh, pounded 
 quite small in a mortar. The current of water 
 running through the boxes must be pure and 
 free from mud, and great care required to be 
 taken during the periods of hatching, if the 
 rivers were flooded by heavy rains, to divert the 
 muddy water from the boxes. It took about 
 100 days until the spawn gave indication of life. 
 Mr Ashworth then observed that a great deal had 
 yet to be discovered in the artificial propaga- 
 tion and feeding of salmon. They knew com- 
 paratively little of the habits of salmon, and in 
 order that a greater amount of knowledge might 
 be obtained, he had recommended to the Com- 
 
NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 missioners of Fisheries in Ireland to take from 
 the ponds a portion of the fish propagated in 
 the way he had mentioned, and immerse them 
 annually in the sea for a period of three months, 
 and to be again deposited in the ponds for other 
 nine months, to be repeated for several years. 
 The Commissioners had taken about a dozen of 
 these young salmon from the ponds, and had had 
 them many weeks in the Dublin Exhibition, 
 where they were kept in a model of a weir, with 
 a salmon ladder in it, the model being supplied 
 by a pipe with a constant run of water. These 
 little creatures showed their agility by mounting 
 the ladder, and so passing over the weir, to the 
 amusement of the bystanders. He was in- 
 formed they were alive, thriving and perfectly 
 healthy in this small run of pure water; they 
 were fed on chopped meat every day. It was 
 only in this way a more accurate history of the 
 ages and habits of the salmon species might be 
 written. The expense of this plan of artificial 
 propagation he did not estimate to exceed a pound 
 a thousand, which was at the rate of one farthing 
 for each salmon. 
 
 At the conclusion of Mr Ashworth's lucid re- 
 marks, Sir Patrick M. JThriepland moved that 
 
^ A. J.,,,/,- 
 
 F /.iwtv f'ft/ut/ 
 
 6 Cmtgctoy < *> '//'/'///// //// & J. 
 
 C H 
 
 STORMONTFIELU 
 PONDS. 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPEKIMENT. 29 
 
 the thanks of the meeting be tendered to that 
 gentleman for the important information which 
 he had communicated. 
 
 Colonel Belshes seconded the motion, which, 
 being unanimously agreed to, the Chairman con- 
 veyed the sense of the meeting to Mr Ashworth. 
 
 At another meeting held on the 21st October 
 following, it was resolved to make ponds and 
 rearing -boxes, and 500 was voted for that 
 purpose. A Committee was also appointed to 
 superintend the work. 
 
 Immediately after this meeting operations were 
 commenced, and by the 23d of November- the 
 boxes were in readiness to receive the ova. The 
 accompanying plan will be better understood, and 
 answer the purpose more fully than any descrip- 
 tion we could give of the ponds and hatching- 
 boxes. 
 
 HATCHING-BOXES AND POND. 
 
 This far-famed salmon-hatching and fry-rearing 
 establishment is situated on the river Tay, about 
 five miles above Perth. Lord Mansfield is the pro- 
 prietor of the ground. The hatching-boxes are 
 16 feet above the summer level of the river, and 
 the water is taken from the lade that supplies 
 
30 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the Stormontfield bleachfield; this lade comes off 
 the Tay about a mile farther up the river than 
 the ponds. As will be seen in the plan, a pipe 
 (the mouth of which is covered with perforated 
 zinc) is taken from the lade to the filtering pond, 
 the water from which, after being filtered, rises 
 into the upper canal, and flows through the 
 hatching-boxes, which empty themselves into the 
 lower canal, the water from thence escaping into 
 the rearing pond by means of a small artificial 
 stream plentifully supplied with large gravel as 
 shelter to the young fish. A current is kept 
 constantly running through the pond, at the 
 east end of which there is an outlet having a 
 sluice; and just before the water enters the river 
 there is another sluice, for intercepting the de- 
 scending smoults, for the purpose of marking. 
 It will be seen by the plan that there are 300 
 boxes in all, laid out into 25 parallel rows, with a 
 walk or path between each, twelve boxes being in 
 in the row, each box 6 feet long by 1 foot 6 inches 
 broad and 1 foot deep. The fall from the upper to 
 the lower end of each box is 2 inches, and 2 feet in 
 all, so as to allow the water to flow freely through 
 them ; but experience has proved that the fall is 
 not sufficient, and that the quantity of water 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 31 
 
 discharged from the feeding pipe is too small. 
 A larger run of water and a greater fall would 
 scour the gravel better, and keep it freer of 
 algae and impurities of all kinds. The boxes are 
 filled to within an inch or two of the top, first 
 with a layer of fine gravel, next with one of coarser 
 gravel, and lastly with stones as large as road 
 metal. These deposits, previous to being put 
 into the boxes, should be washed clean, and 
 allowed to lie exposed to the action of the sun 
 and air, in order to rid them of the larvae of 
 insects, which destroy more ova than all other 
 enemies put together. 
 
 When the young fry seek change of quarters, 
 they drop down to the lower canal, where they 
 are regularly fed. At this time the canal is 
 swarming with them there are more fish there, 
 were they allowed to reach to the full-grown state, 
 than would pay the rental of the Tay for one 
 year. All the fry do not leave the boxes at the 
 same time ; many of them linger on through the 
 summer. As will be seen by looking at the plan, 
 there is a connecting stream with the pond, which 
 the keeper shuts off with a sluice; this he keeps 
 shut until all the smoults are out of the pond, 
 which is emptied and cleaned ere this sluice is 
 
32 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 opened and the young fry admitted, and that is 
 generally done in the end of May. When the 
 fry are liberated from the lower canal, they spread 
 themselves over the pond, and into whatever part 
 of it the keeper throws the food, they may be 
 seen rising to it in great numbers. This pond is 
 the most faulty part of the whole plan ; it is only 
 223 feet long by 112 feet wide at its broadest 
 part, and is far too small to contain and nourish 
 300,000 fry, which the boxes can hatch ; it would 
 require a pond of four times the size to rear the 
 produce of the boxes; besides, another pond is 
 necessary for enabling the hatching to be carried 
 on every year. There is a slight current in the 
 pond; but we think not so great as it should be, 
 to supply abundant fresh water for so many fish. 
 At the lower end of the pond there is a pipe, 
 for the purpose of emptying it, connected with a 
 drain to the river. When artificial propagation 
 is more in favour than it is at present with our 
 salmon proprietors, all these evils will be remedied. 
 We have said that the gravel for the hatching- 
 boxes should be well cleaned, dried, and exposed 
 to the action of the sun and air, in order to rid it 
 of the larvae of insects, the greatest enemy the ova 
 have, which statement we shall illustrate thus : 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 33 
 
 In the spring of the year 1854, Mr Buist, the 
 conservator of the Tay, obtained some ova, nearly 
 ready for hatching, from a ford on the river, and 
 placed a dozen of the grabs of the May-fly 
 (ephemera), taken from the same bed, along 
 with them in a vessel, which was supplied with 
 water by a syphon of thread. In a few days 
 the grubs had devoured one of the eggs, and 
 in a few days more the whole were devoured; 
 but, previous to that time, two or three of 
 the grubs left their covering, and came forth 
 as the May-fly. We watched them carefully 
 while in the act of feeding, and found five 
 or six of the grubs firmly fixed to an ovum, which 
 they never left until totally eaten up. These 
 animals are not the scavengers of the river, for, 
 in this instance, the ova were alive. Again, in a 
 small but complete artificial rearing apparatus, 
 which we have had in operation for many years, 
 and which is supplied with filtered water, we 
 deposited in two boxes, on the 26th November, 
 1859, a quantity of salmon ova, fecundated by 
 the milt of a male salmon, and on the 30th of 
 the same month a small quantity of sea-trout ova, 
 fecundated by the milt of a male salmon also. 
 The progress made by both was very satisfactory; 
 
34 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the temperature of the water was 40 when the 
 ova were deposited never falling below 36, and 
 by the 1st of March the eye and round form of 
 the fish could easily be detected in both kinds, by 
 the naked eye, and an ovum, when put in the 
 hollow of the hand, would turn itself round. 
 Peter Marshall, th*e keeper at the Stormontfield 
 pond, who was in the habit of examining them 
 regularly, stated that they were about a fortnight 
 earlier than the ova at that place, which had been 
 deposited at the same date. But about this time, 
 on account of a deficient supply of filtered water, 
 a quantity of unfiltered water was allowed to 
 enter the pipe; this water contained a large 
 amount of the larvae and grubs of insects, par- 
 ticularly of a small black water beetle, and by the 
 end of April all the ova were devoured. Their 
 method of procedure was as follows : the grub 
 fastened on a live ovum, and pierced a hole in 
 the shell, the colour instantly changing from a 
 salmon colour to opaque white : the egg was 
 devoured at leisure afterwards. The Messrs 
 Ashworth, proprietors of the Galway fishings, 
 experimented on the May-fly, and their report is, 
 "that the larvae of the May-fly are known to be 
 most destructive " in proof of this being the case, 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 35 
 
 they say "that one year we deposited 70,000 
 salmon ova in a small, pure stream, adjoining to 
 a plantation of fir-trees, and these ova we found 
 to be entirely destroyed by the larvae of the May- 
 fly, which, in their matured state, become the 
 favourite food of smoults or young salmon. It 
 is evident that insects, .fish, and fowls destroy 
 by far the largest quantity of the salmon species, 
 and they cannot be removed as you would destroy 
 vermin in a game preserve; it is therefore reason- 
 able to suppose that the parent salmon is induced 
 instinctively to surmount the greatest difficulties, 
 and to incur the risk of its own life by ascending 
 to the smallest streams, where alone its offspring 
 can be most securely deposited and reared beyond 
 the reach of its numerous natural enemies. We 
 know that the natural enemies of the salmon 
 cannot &e destroyed, as they exist both in rivers 
 and in the sea, consequently there is left but one 
 certain mode of increasing the quantity of salmon, 
 and that is by artificial means by collecting the 
 spawn, and placing it beyond the reach of its enemies 
 for hatching and protection for the first year of 
 its existence ; and this may be done, in vast quan- 
 tities, at a small cost, and without injury to the 
 parent fish/' 
 
36 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 From these experiments, we may see the ne- 
 cessity of having the gravel free from the eggs 
 of grubs and larvae of insects, and likewise learn 
 the great destruction of ova that takes place by 
 their means in the beds of all our rivers and 
 streams. It is true that insects, in all their stages, 
 become, in their turn, the chief food of the young 
 fish, and that no river could feed or support fish, 
 if these were absent; but as the fry of the salmon, 
 at least, require no external nourishment (as we 
 shall show afterwards) for the period of six weeks 
 after hatching, the insects can be of no use to 
 them for food, and, in artificial rearing, food is 
 supplied them by their keeper. There is little 
 doubt but that the most of our salmon rivers 
 (if well protected) would be sufficiently stocked 
 with fish, if they were not, in every instance, 
 over-fished by nets of all kinds ; but when that 
 is the case, artificial rearing, if generally adopted 
 on a scale sufficiently large for the size of the 
 river, would rescue enough of the ova from their 
 enemies to meet this extra fishing. 
 
 AETIFICIAL SPAWNING OF THE SALMON 
 SPAWNING OF 1853. 
 
 On the 23d of November, 1853, this operation 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 37 
 
 was commenced at a ford on the Tay, near 
 Almond-mouth, by Mr Ramsbottom of Clitheroe, 
 who is so well known as a successful manipulator. 
 We were present, but will let Mr Ramsbottom 
 explain his own method, which we take from his 
 pamphlet on Artificial Breeding at Outerard : 
 "So soon as a pair of suitable fish were captured, 
 the ova of the female were immediately discharged 
 into a tub, one-fourth full of water, by a gentle 
 pressure of the hands, from the thorax down- 
 wards. The milt of the male was ejected in a 
 similar manner, and the contents of the tub 
 stirred with the hand. After the lapse of a 
 minute the water was poured off, with the excep- 
 tion of sufficient to keep the ova submerged 
 this must always be attended to, even when the 
 ova or milt is flowing from the fish and fresh 
 water supplied in its place. This also was poured 
 off, and fresh substituted, previous to removing 
 the impregnated spawn to the boxes prepared for 
 its reception." We observed in this, the first 
 manipulation, and in all the others afterwards, 
 that a very small quantity of the milt was suf- 
 ficient to impregnate the ova of a large salmon, 
 and that always a few of the ova, after receiving 
 the milt, turned white these were injured, and 
 
38 NATUKAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 would prove addled. We also noticed that the 
 salmon colour of the ova was heightened when 
 the milt came in contact with it. Round tin 
 pans, with as much water in them as covered the 
 ova, were used to carry them to the hatching- 
 boxes. On the 23d November, 1853, the first 
 stocking of the boxes commenced, and by the 
 23d of December 300,000 ova, in very fine con- 
 dition, were deposited in the 300 boxes. The 
 spawned fish were returned to the river, and went 
 away after the operation quite lively. 
 
 DEPOSITION OF OVA. 
 
 The ova were sown into the boxes, which had 
 been previously prepared, and chiefly at the top, 
 by means of the lid of the pan, as the stream 
 which flows through carried them to the lowest 
 part, but it is necessary to assist the current 
 when it is not strong enough, by pouring a few 
 pails-full of water in at the top of the box, or 
 agitating the water with the lid so as to insure 
 the proper and equal spreading of the ova ; also, 
 care should be taken not to sow it too thick, as 
 ova, it has been found, thrive best when they do 
 not touch one another in the spawn bed. The 
 season of 1853-4 turning out very severe, the 
 
STOEMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 39 
 
 hatching was retarded, the temperature of the 
 water flowing through the boxes during the 
 month of January, February, and March ranging 
 between 33 and 42 degrees Fah. 
 
 After Mr Kamsbottorn had seen the ova depo- 
 sited in the boxes, Mr Buist selected to attend and 
 watch over the young fry Mr Peter Marshall, the 
 present keeper, who has shown all along an 
 aptitude for the situation; and we know he has 
 given much satisfaction to his employers, and to 
 all naturalists and strangers who have visited the 
 place to witness the experiment. We question 
 if there is any person in this country more 
 thoroughly acquainted with the artificial rearing 
 process than Peter of the Pools. 
 
 Many theories were prevalent at this time 
 the public prints were full of them ; but there was 
 one that Mr Buist was determined to examine, 
 namely, whether ova taken from the female fish, 
 without having received the milt, would hatch, 
 some writers affirming that the ova were impreg- 
 nated before they left the fish. Two boxes were 
 filled with ova taken from a salmon without 
 having the milt applied, and other two were 
 filled from the same fish, but manipulated upon 
 with the milt of the male; and it was found that 
 
40 NATUKAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 not one of the former hatched, while all the others 
 succeeded. What was singular in this experi- 
 ment was, the barren ova only became a little 
 paler, but never turned white or opaque like ova 
 that had been impregnated and died afterwards. 
 We examined many of these ova in the months of 
 April and May (when all the boxes, except the 
 two reserved for the experiment, were swarming 
 with fry), and there was not a chick visible in 
 any of them; therefore we have not the least 
 doubt that the ova of the salmon at least are not 
 impregnated until they leave the fish. The num- 
 ber of ova in a female salmon is roughly reckoned 
 by the weight of the fish, as it has been ascertained 
 by counting the ova, that for every pound weight 
 she will shed about 1000 ova. A salmon of 10 
 Ibs. will therefore contain about 10,000 ova. The 
 keeper informs us that the best period for trans- 
 porting salmon ova to any distance is immediately 
 after impregnation, or within a week or two of 
 the time of hatching. 
 
 HATCHING OF THE OVA, 1854. 
 
 On the 31st of March, 1854, the first ovum 
 was observed to have hatched, which was 128 
 days from the deposition of the first and 98 days 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 41 
 
 from the deposition of the last of the ova. A 
 high or low temperature of the water will accele- 
 rate or retard the hatching; ova have been 
 hatched by us in 60 days, in a constant tempe- 
 rature of 44 degrees, but in the rivers in this 
 latitude from 100 to 140 is the time, according 
 to the season. 
 
 We were furnished with a few ova, and, by 
 keeping up a supply of pure water we were 
 gratified by observing the little creature burst- 
 ing the shell. The fish lies in the shell, coiled 
 round in the form of a bow, and the greatest 
 strain being at the back, it is the first part 
 that is freed; and, after a few struggles, the 
 shell is entirely thrown off with a jerk. The 
 appearance of the fish at this stage of its being is 
 very interesting; what is to be the future fish is a 
 mere line, the head and eyes large, the latter very 
 prominent. Along the belly of the fish, from the 
 gills, is suspended a bag of large dimensions in 
 proportion to the size of the fish. This bag con- 
 tains a yolk which nourishes the fish for six 
 weeks, after which they must be fed. For a few 
 days after hatching, the two dorsal fins are ap- 
 parently joined, and the two pectoral are very large 
 in proportion to the rest of the animal. The little 
 
42 NATTJEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 creature, not requiring to seek its food, moves very 
 little, and when it does, swims mostly on its side, 
 owing to the large size of the bag; this gradually 
 becomes absorbed, and in a short time the fins 
 get separated, and the fry assumes the general 
 aspect of a fish. In its first stage it is trans- 
 lucent, but in a short period it takes on the parr 
 colour, and the transverse bars can be easily seen, 
 and the tail begins to get much forked. At the 
 bag stage of their existence they are very easily 
 injured; a displaced stone in the gravel amongst 
 which they are lying coming against them de- 
 stroys them; and although they are no longer the 
 prey of insects, all kinds of fish and fowl are 
 their enemies, and great must be their destruc- 
 tion in rivers where their enemies are numerous. 
 As we have previously stated, in about six weeks 
 the bag is absorbed, and the fish is a fingerling 
 or parr, from one inch and a half to two inches 
 long. The pond in connection with the boxes 
 was ready to receive the fry when the fish had 
 reached this stage, but was found far too small 
 to receive 300,000 fry. The length of the pond 
 is only 223 feet by 112 feet at its broadest part, 
 but from the great attention paid to the fry by 
 the keeper, and the regularity with which they 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 43 
 
 were fed with boiled ox and sheep liver ground 
 small, almost no deaths occurred, and by the 
 time the fry were a year old, by far the greater 
 part had grown as large as the parrs found in the 
 river; and well they might, for they fed greedily, 
 and it was an interesting sight to witness them 
 getting their food. 
 
 We were at a loss to account for the difference 
 in size which was discoverable amongst the fry 
 at this period, for all were within a few weeks of 
 the same age the keeper thought that the small 
 ones were kept by the larger ones from getting as 
 much food as they required. The same difference 
 in size at this time is found to be the rule also in 
 the river, and those that we have reared ourselves, 
 though equally and liberally fed, still showed the 
 same difference. It was thought that the small 
 fry might be from the ova of grilse, but this 
 theory was put to the test afterwards, by keeping 
 the fry of salmon and grilse distinct, and, amongst 
 both, the same disparity in size appeared. Mr 
 Shaw of Drumlanrig, the first who had experi- 
 mented successfully on the artificial hatching and 
 rearing of salmon fry, stated that the fish in the 
 pond would not become smoults until another 
 year; while Mr Andrew Young of Invershin, who 
 
44 NATUKAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 had carried out with equal success similar experi- 
 ments, asserted that the whole would become 
 smoults, or, as parrs, migrate to the sea that 
 season; and there was no little speculation created 
 amongst those who took an interest in these mat- 
 ters to learn the result. Articles on the subject 
 appeared from time to time in the Perthshire 
 Courier, the North British Daily Mail, the 
 Scotsman, the Field, and even the Times took up 
 the subject. 
 
 The spring of 1855 was very severe, for the 
 ice was not off the pond from the middle of 
 January till the 8th of March, and when the ice 
 was at its thickest it was 10 inches thick, and 
 chaffers, containing fire, had to be used at the 
 outgoing sluice, so as to insure a constant run of 
 water through the pond. Large holes were kept 
 open in the ice, and the keeper, during the 
 severest of the frost, had to visit them two or 
 three times during the night to keep them open. 
 At these holes the fish were regularly fed, and 
 they appeared to feed greedily. This severe 
 weather had an effect in retarding the develop- 
 ment of the fry. On the 2d of May, a meeting 
 of the Committee appointed by the Tay fishing 
 proprietors was held at the pond, when Mr 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 45 
 
 Wilson of Woodville, Edinburgh, Mr Shaw, Mr 
 Ramsbottom, Dr Esdaile, Mr Buist, Mr Walsh, and 
 some other gentlemen who took an interest in the 
 matter, were present. Lord Mansfield was also 
 present, and took a prominent part in the pro- 
 ceedings, and entered very fully into the various 
 discussions that followed on the specimens ex- 
 hibited. 
 
 When the Committee met, a tub, containing a 
 dozen or two of fry, which the fishermen had got 
 in the river, was shown, for comparison with 
 those in the pond; these fish were pronounced 
 smoults by the fishermen, and Mr Shaw, who 
 was provided with a small net, cast it into the 
 pond, and brought out a number of fry of all 
 sizes, which were put into another vessel. 
 
 The fry, on being compared, were very much 
 alike in size and colour, only the pond ones were 
 fatter, and Mr Shaw pronounced them (both river 
 and pond) all one-year parr. In the meanwhile, 
 Dr Esdaile caught a larger specimen with the 
 rod in the Tay, which Mr Shaw at once said was 
 a smoult on its way to the sea. Here was now 
 the means of comparing the pond fish with the 
 acknowledged real smoult, and settling the ques- 
 tion. This last caught specimen was certainly 
 
46 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 larger than any that had as yet been taken out of 
 the pond, and the smoult scales fuller grown 
 we have no doubt but it was an early smoult 
 from some of the higher tributaries but the 
 parr marks were rather more visible than on the 
 pond fish. The back was of a dark blue colour, 
 and the pectoral fins were getting black, while 
 the backs of the pond fish and those in the tub 
 were yellowish brown. It was suggested that 
 this brown colour of the back might be owing to 
 the fish assuming the colour of the tub, and Mr 
 Shaw showed that it was so, by putting some of 
 the fish into dark and light-coloured vessels, and 
 it was seen that the fish in a very short time 
 became dark or light according to the colour of 
 the vessel; but the pectoral fins were still dark 
 in the large specimen, while the others were 
 yellow. Messrs. Shaw and Wilson, after an in- 
 teresting discussion, came to the conclusion, which 
 the Committee adopted, that the fry in the pond 
 were still parrs, and would not migrate until next 
 spring. We expressed our conviction that the 
 Committee would find that they were mistaken, 
 judging from previous experiments which we had 
 made, and knowing well the mind of our friend 
 Mr Young on this subject, we asked Mr Shaw, 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT. 47 
 
 subsequently, how it was that so many of the 
 pond fish had got on the smoult scales, if not 
 ready to go to sea? Mr Shaw said that all parrs 
 at this season put on these scales but threw them 
 off again. We replied that this was not in accord- 
 ance with our experience. We again asked Mr 
 Shaw if none of the pond fish would seek to go 
 to sea? He said some might go, but not many; 
 although he had seen them go the first year. The 
 Committee then left, and the keeper was ordered 
 to retain the fish in the pond; but some of the 
 tacksmen of the salmon fishings on the Tay, who 
 were present, were so convinced that the fish were 
 smoults, that they threatened not to pay their 
 rents if the smoults were not allowed to go. 
 
 FIKST MIGKATION OF THE SMOULTS, 1855. 
 
 On the 19th of May, Mr Buist becoming con- 
 vinced that the fry had become smoults, i.e., had 
 taken on the silvery scales, caused a great many 
 to be marked by cutting off the dead or second 
 dorsal fin, and turning them into the river. The 
 sluice was drawn, and the fish were allowed to 
 depart; but, contrary to expectation, almost none 
 showed any inclination to leave until the 24th of 
 May, when the exodus began, and a shoal came 
 
48 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 down to the marking-place, when the keeper was 
 engaged at the time in marking, amounting, 
 according to his calculation, to something like 
 5000, and so full of fish was the marking- trough, 
 that he had to desist and let them escape into the 
 river without being marked. The mark this year 
 was cutting off the second dorsal fin. By the 3d 
 of June the keeper had marked 1 300, and it was 
 quite evident that many of the fry would not seek 
 to migrate this season, as they had not taken on 
 the smoult dress. An article in the Scotsman 
 newspaper, from an English correspondent, con- 
 tained a theory, that the remaining parrs would 
 be all males, as it would account for the number 
 of large male parrs found in the river in the 
 months of October, November, and December. 
 We dissected a number as they came to hand, 
 and found that in the remaining fish the sexes 
 were about equally divided, so this theory was 
 set at rest; and although some of the Com- 
 mittee, and almost all the fishermen, were for 
 turning all the fry out of the pond into the river, 
 it was decided to allow them to remain for another 
 year with free egress to the river. 
 
 The hatching of 1855 proving a failure not 
 more than a few thousand fry having been pro- 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 49 
 
 duced, owing to unskilful manipulation in the 
 spawning of the fish, (which was not entrusted to 
 Peter,) and the long severe cold of the season 
 they were therefore put into the river; and it was 
 agreed in future, as there was but one rearing 
 pond, to hatch only every second year, as it had 
 now been ascertained that only one-half of the 
 former hatching would leave the pond the first 
 year, and to turn in among the full-grown parr, 
 the new hatching would be certain destruction 
 to it. 
 
 RETURN AS GRILSE. 
 
 On the 7th of July, 1855, the first marked 
 grilse was caught, returning from the sea, at a 
 fishing-station near the mouth of the river Earn 
 a tributary joining the Tay, a little below Perth 
 which was about six weeks after the first exodus 
 from the pond, on the 24th of May, This grilse 
 weighed 3 Ibs., certainly a great growth in so 
 short a time as the weight of a smoult before it 
 reaches the tidal wave is from one to two ounces. 
 The capture of this fish created some sensation 
 amongst those who were watching the experi- 
 ment. By the end of July, Mr Buist, the super- 
 intendent, stated that twenty-two grilse having 
 
50 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the mark had been caught, and carefully exa- 
 mined by him, besides as many reported but not 
 brought to him; and, but for the aversion shown 
 by the fishermen to the experiment, he felt cer- 
 tain many more would have been reported. In 
 order to induce the fishermen to bring the marked 
 fish to Mr Buist, he caused the following notice 
 to be circulated amongst them: "A number of 
 the smoults from Stormontfield breeding-pond 
 having been marked by cutting the dead fin in a 
 certain way, notice is hereby given, that 2s per Ib. 
 will be paid for each of the first five grilses that 
 may be brought, so marked, to Mr Buist's office. 
 The above price will be paid on its being satis- 
 factorily ascertained that the mark corresponds 
 with that made on the smoults. Perth, 12th 
 July, 1855." This was a tempting reward; and, 
 as was expected, would induce some of the men to 
 counterfeit the mark, and such was the case. A 
 fisherman caught a grilse, and having cut off the 
 dead fin, found that the raw wound would be 
 easily detected; and, in order to disguise the part, 
 he took a portion of the skin from off another 
 grilse and put it over the place in the best man- 
 ner he could; but Mr Buist instantly detected 
 the cheat. In fact, it would be impossible to 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 51 
 
 imitate the natural healing of the wound, as new 
 skin and new scales grow over the part. The 
 rapid growth of the grilse may be inferred from 
 the weight of the first marked one which was 
 taken, on the 7th July, being 3 Ibs.; their 
 weight increasing progressively to 5, 5J, 7 and 
 8 Ibs., while one captured on the 31st July 
 weighed no less than 9J Ibs. By almost all 
 those in any way acquainted with the progress of 
 the experiment, this was considered a very satis- 
 factory elucidation of the history of the smoult 
 up to the grilse state. But others, again, affirmed 
 that the cutting of the fin might have been done 
 by seals while they were in the sea. Seals will 
 undoubtedly cut off the dead fin of a salmon or 
 grilse; although a piece more of the fish is likely 
 to be taken, and the fish mutilated. But it is a 
 very wide stretch of the imagination to believe 
 that 44 grilse captured in one season should have 
 been deprived of this fin by these animals, and the 
 fish be otherwise uninjured. It was, however, con- 
 sidered very desirable, in order to meet all objec- 
 tions, that some foreign substance should be in- 
 serted into the smoults next year, so that on their 
 return they should be at once recognised. In the 
 Field newspaper of the 12th of April, 1856, Mr 
 
OZ NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 Buist makes the following statement: " Believing 
 that your readers would like to know the dates 
 and the number of smoults marked as they left 
 the pond, I append the necessary particulars. 
 The numbers marked were about one in every 
 100 that left, so that about 120,000 departed, 
 and more than double their number remained. 
 " Smoults marked on going out of the pond 
 
 M 
 
 ay 19,. 
 23,. 
 
 ....... 41 Ms 
 25 Ju 
 
 IT 31,.. 
 
 12 
 
 QA 1 .. 
 
 204 
 
 24,. 
 
 48 
 
 2,.. 
 
 6 
 
 25,. 
 
 58 
 
 3,.... 
 
 3 
 
 26,. 
 
 24 
 
 4,.. 
 
 6 
 
 27,. 
 
 114 
 
 5,.... 
 
 130 
 
 28,. 
 29,. 
 
 56 
 374 
 
 6,.... 
 
 150 
 
 7,.. 
 
 4 
 
 30,. 
 
 37 
 
 
 515 
 
 777 
 
 
 111 
 
 1292 
 
 "The marked grilses were taken and reported at 
 the following rates, the greater part having been 
 produced and carefully inspected : * 
 
 July 7,. ..1 grilse 3 Ibs. July 30,... 1 grilse 7 Ibs. 
 " 20,. ..1 " 5J Ibs. " 31,. ..1 " 9J Ibs. 
 
 " 24,. ..1 " 5 Ibs. Aug. 4,...l " 7 Ibs. 
 
 " 4,...l " 8 Ibs." 
 
 About 22 were inspected by Mr Buist, and 20 reported, but not 
 seen, by him. 
 
STOEMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 53 
 
 Allowing for what were taken with the marks 
 and not reported, we may estimate at least forty, 
 so that, taking them as one for every 100, would 
 give 4000 grilses "having been added to the 
 stock in the river from the breeding ponds." 
 We are unable to give the date when taken, and 
 weight of the other grilse seen by Mr Buist, as 
 he has mislaid his jotting. The fish that re- 
 mained in the pond by the end of the year, 
 although healthy, did not increase much in size ; 
 but many of the male parrs were full of milt, and 
 great numbers of the fry were still very small 
 not being much above three or four inches in 
 length. To account for the great difference in 
 size, it was thought that the large fish prevented 
 the weaker and smaller from getting their regular 
 share of the food, but, at the exodus of the 
 smoults, we observed, and our observation has 
 since then been confirmed, that both large and 
 small alike take on the smoult dress when the 
 migration time arrives, and those parrs that re- 
 main are composed in the same ratio of large and 
 small. It was then conjectured that the small 
 were the produce of two grilses, or of a grilse and 
 salmon; but, as we proceed, we shall see that 
 this conjecture was equally at fault. 
 
54 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 THIED SPAWNING, 1855. 
 
 On the 22d of November, 1855, the third 
 spawning of the fish commenced, and continued 
 until the 16th December, at the same place the 
 junction of the river Almond with the Tay and, 
 as the previous year had been a failure, Mr 
 Ramsbottom was present to officiate. The total 
 number of boxes filled on this occasion was 183, 
 each box holding about 1000 ova. Mr T. Ash- 
 worth of Poynton was present at the operation. 
 One of the male salmon taken on this occasion 
 had been caught and marked by Mr Eamsbottom, 
 in 1853, and had returned again to spawn at the 
 same place. The first of the fry of this hatching 
 came to life on the 3d of April, 1856 the rest 
 from eight to fourteen days afterwards. 
 
 FIKST SALMON OF THE SPAWNING OF 1853. 
 
 On Saturday, the 1st March, 1856, the first 
 salmon belonging to the hatching of 1854 was 
 reported by Mr Young, fisherman, as caught by 
 him. This fish weighed 10 J Ibs. We have no 
 doubt, as we shall hereafter endeavour to prove, 
 that this spring fish had not ascended the river 
 the previous year as a grilse, but had remained 
 all the winter in the sea. On the 8th of May 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 55 
 
 another marked salmon, weighing 9 Ibs., was 
 caught at Kinfauns station; but the fishermen all 
 along not only showed a want of interest in the 
 progress of the experiment, but, in many in- 
 stances, were decidedly hostile to it. 
 
 1856 SECOND MIGKATION OF FEY SPAWNED 1853 
 TO 1854. 
 
 Previous to the migration of the smoults this 
 year, some of those gentlemen who felt an interest 
 in the experiment thought, along with Mr Buist, 
 that, in order to identify the fish on its return from 
 the sea, it was desirable that some substance should 
 be attached to the smoults, so that they should 
 be recognised beyond all doubt on their return. 
 Whatever substance was to be used, it required 
 to be something that salt water would not de- 
 stroy. Many things for marking and methods of 
 attaching them were thought of, but our friend, 
 Alexander Harvey, Esq., Glasgow, sent 300 silver 
 rings, which we had great hopes would answer 
 the purpose. These rings were pointed at one 
 end, and had a loop-eye at the other into which 
 the point end was inserted after being attached 
 to the fish through the fleshy part of the tail 
 the pointed end being doubled back. The 
 
56 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 other mark this year was cutting off a portion 
 of the lower angle of the tail. On the 28th of 
 April, which was a month earlier than last year, 
 the first shoal of smoults went off. They were 
 generally larger, fuller grown, and finer shaped 
 than last year. We took many smonlts from the 
 river for the purpose of comparison, and in nearly 
 every instance the pond smoult was superior in 
 every point of view. There were no very small 
 parrs in the pond at this time as there were last 
 year. Previously to leaving they congregate and 
 swim in a restless manner through the pond; 
 then a few of them visit the place of exit, and 
 again return to the shoal, which shortly takes its 
 departure; and it is a fact well known to all 
 fishermen that those in the river descend to the 
 sea in shoals. The keeper having reported to Mr 
 Buist that the fry had nearly all left the pond, 
 the 24th of May was fixed upon for the purpose 
 of emptying it to prepare for the hatching of 
 1855 when it was found that 335 smoults had 
 remained behind the rest; they and 872 parrs 
 were captured and turned into the river. These 
 parrs, at the time, were thought to belong to the 
 unsuccessful spawning of 1854, and were said to 
 have been put into the pond by mistake. A few 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 57 
 
 river trout, (salmo fario,) and some small eels 
 were also found. The trout weighed from 1 Ib. to 
 1J Ibs., and were supposed to have been mis- 
 chievously put into the pond unknown to the 
 keeper. We cut them open, and found them all 
 gorged with smoults so they must have reduced 
 the numbers of the inmates daily. 
 
 The whole of the hatching of 1854 having now 
 left for the sea, Mr Buist reports on it "That 
 the first of the fry that left the ponds as smoults 
 in 1855 was on the 19th of May; the last on 
 the 7th of June. No more left that year. The 
 first of the same brood, which remained as parr 
 all last season, assumed the smoult scales in 
 April, 1856. The first division went off on the 
 28th of April, and the last on the 24th of May. 
 In both years they went off daily in divisions, 
 from the first to the last day. About 1300 were 
 marked in 1855, and several returned as stated 
 in my report. The number marked in 1856 was 
 300 with rings, and 800 with cuts in the tail. 
 Taking one in each hundred as marked, it may 
 be reckoned thus: Left the pond in 1855, 
 130,000; do. in 1856, 100,000; total, 230,000. 
 We shall anxiously look for the appearance of the 
 silver rings." Although many grilse were re- 
 
58 NATIJEAL HISTOEY OP THE SALMON. 
 
 ported to the superintendent as captured, having 
 this year's mark, not one having the ring was 
 amongst those taken. The grilses in 1856 were 
 very numerous, and, had the fishermen taken 
 more care to examine them, some perhaps might 
 have been detected, but the greater part of them 
 were unfriendly to the experiment. - However, 
 the difficulty must be admitted of marking so 
 small a fish as a smoult, (which seldom weighs 
 much above an ounce when it is marked,) with 
 any foreign substance that is likely to remain for 
 any length of time attached to the fish, as its 
 growth is so rapid, growing to the weight of 3 Ibs. 
 or 5 Ibs. in six or seven weeks; besides, a silver 
 ring is an attraction, no doubt, to the enemies of 
 the fish while in the water, and therefore it is 
 more likely to be devoured than any of its neigh- 
 bours. A few of the fry that left the pond in 
 May or June, 1855, were reported as having been 
 caught this season as salmon one of them being 
 as heavy as 19 Ibs.; another was taken by the late 
 Col. Stewart of Dalguise while angling the 
 weight of which we did not learn. We may 
 expect for some years to hear of large salmon 
 being taken with mark of 1855. 
 
 The Stormontfield experiment having proved 
 
STOEMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 59 
 
 so successful, many strangers from a distance were 
 attracted to the spot. In January of this year 
 the ponds were visited by M. De Ryan de Acuna, 
 from Spain, and the Earl De Reus, a very wealthy 
 Spanish nobleman of great influence in that 
 country, in order to gain information prior to 
 adopting the artificial method of rearing salmon 
 to stock some of the rivers of that country with 
 that fish. Although the projectors entertained 
 doubts of many of the rivers of Spain being 
 in a cold enough latitude for salmon, still they 
 felt confident that those rivers that empty them- 
 selves into the Bay of Biscay would be found in 
 every respect favourable for the purpose. We 
 understood at the time that Mr Ramsbottom was 
 engaged to commence the experiment, but we 
 cannot say if success attended the proposal. Sir 
 William Jardine, the well-known naturalist, M. 
 Coste of France, and Professor Queckett of London, 
 took much interest in the experiment at this time, 
 and visited the ponds frequently. We have to ac- 
 knowledge our thanks to Sir William for enabling 
 us to distinguish the parr of the salmo salar, 
 salmo trutta, salmo eriox, from the parr of the 
 salmo fario, or common trout. Amongst a lot of 
 thirty-one parrs, Sir William picked out the 
 
60 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 salmo fario, and showed that all the parrs of this 
 species had the extremity of the second dorsal or 
 dead fin fringed with orange, besides other marks 
 about the head; but the fin mark is the best, and 
 is easily distinguished. Being anxious to be able 
 to detect the parr of the salmo trutta and salmo 
 eriox from those of the salmo salar, we asked 
 Sir William if he could give us any mark equally 
 clear, but he frankly acknowledged that he was 
 unable to detect any outward difference in the 
 parrs of these kinds from that of salmo salar. 
 
 Although it may seem strange, it is not the less 
 true, that, at this stage of the experiment, notwith- 
 standing that every thing had been successful, the 
 subject received more attention from persons at 
 a distance than from those in the neighbourhood. 
 The facts in the history of the salmon that had 
 now been proved beyond a doubt, were again and 
 again disputed by those who would not take the 
 trouble to investigate the matter for themselves, 
 but who still followed the errors of others, and 
 were determined to retain them, because they did 
 not square with their previously received opinions 
 on the subject. Nothing daunted, however, Mr 
 Buist, and the few friends that had taken an in- 
 terest in the experiment from the first, kept on 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 61 
 
 their way. Facts, not theories, in the history of 
 the fish were what they desired. They were 
 neither committed to the conclusions arrived at 
 by Shaw nor Young, and ultimately were enabled 
 to throw much light upon the previous experi- 
 ments of both of these naturalists. Shaw, as 
 we have stated, had insisted that the fry would 
 not become smoults at the age of one year or 
 thirteen months, while Young as confidently 
 asserted that all of them would the experiment 
 proving both to be partly right, both partly 
 wrong; one-half, as near as could be guessed, 
 going off the first year, and the other half (having 
 the parr marks) still remaining in the pond. 
 Until the parr takes on the smoult scales, it 
 shows no inclination to leave the fresh water. 
 It cannot live in salt water. This fact was put 
 to the test at the ponds, by placing some parrs 
 into salt water the water being brought fresh 
 from the sea at Carnoustie and immediately on 
 being immersed in it, the fish appeared distressed, 
 the fins standing stiff out, the parr marks becom- 
 ing a brilliant ultramarine colour, and the belly 
 and sides of a bright orange. The water was 
 often renewed, but they all died, the last that 
 died living nearly five hours. After being an 
 
62 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 hour in the salt water, they appeared very weak 
 and unable to rise from the bottom of the vessel 
 which contained them, the body of the fish swell- 
 ing to a considerable extent. This change of 
 colour in the fish could not be attributed to the 
 colour of the vessel which held them, for, on 
 being taken out, they still retained the same 
 brilliant colours. We have also taken ova which 
 had been recently manipulated upon, and dropped 
 it into sea water, which destroyed it almost in- 
 stantaneously. Only a few of them becoming 
 opaque, in the greater portion of them the yolk 
 became shrivelled up and contracted. We have 
 put smoults which have had on the scales for 
 some time into salt water directly from the fresh, 
 and they seemed in their true element. We have 
 also turned smoults out of a vessel containing 
 fresh water into a salt water pond, wherein the 
 sea flowed and ebbed, and we watched them as 
 they left the brackish water at the side and 
 sought the salt water as it was poured in un- 
 adulterated from the ocean, which they did a 
 few minutes after. These facts prove that until 
 the parr is covered with the new scales, it is 
 unable to live in salt water, and also that salmon 
 ova cannot hatch in the sea. Every one who 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 63 
 
 has handled a smoult must have observed that 
 the smoult scales come off and stick to the hand, 
 and that the parr scales and marks were still 
 there, having been only covered by the smoult 
 scales. The fish, when undergoing this process, 
 changes its nature altogether, for instead of being 
 a firm, wiry fish, as the parr is, it becomes soft 
 and easily injured in short, it seems to have 
 undergone a new birth. When the smoult re- 
 turns as a grilse, its scales come off with the 
 slightest handling, and it is only when it returns 
 as a salmon, or has been long enough in the sea, 
 that the scales become rigid and firm. 
 
 EXODUS, 1857. 
 
 The fry of the hatching of 1856 having shown 
 symptoms of becoming smoults this year, 1857, 
 by the first week in April the keeper was on the 
 outlook for the departure of the first shoal, which 
 took place on the 12th, being a month earlier 
 than the first exodus of the hatching of 1854; 
 which we have no doubt was caused by the 
 winter of 1856-57 being much milder than 
 1854-55. As the marking of the smoults of the 
 previous hatching with rings had failed, Mr 
 Paton, of Messrs Paton & Walsh, gunmakers, 
 
64 NATURAL HISTOKY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 Perth, contrived an instrument wMch punched 
 out a small part of the gill cover in the shape of 
 the Greek letter Delta, A; the mark was easily 
 put upon the fish, which appeared not to be in 
 the least injured by it. Mr Harvey again sent 
 300 silver rings of an improved construction 
 invented by George Anderson, Esq., Glasgow 
 which, to all appearance, gave hopes of their 
 being found in the. grilse on their return. The 
 young smoults on their leaving were marked as 
 follows : 
 
 About 270 with silver rings inserted into the 
 
 fleshy part of the tail. 
 About 1700 with a small hole perforated in 
 
 the gill cover. 
 About 600 with the dead fin cut off in addition 
 
 to the above perforation. 
 
 Mr Buist published circulars offering a reward 
 of 1 over and above the market price for the 
 first grilse brought in; Ten Shillings each for the 
 next ten; and Five Shillings for the second ten 
 grilses. 
 
 On the 3d of June a grilse was caught in 
 Lunan Bay, near Montrose, and sent to Mr Buist 
 for inspection. We examined this fish, and 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPEKIMENT. 65 
 
 although the part that was punched out of the 
 gill cover was filled up, still the covering was so 
 thin that when the gill cover was held up to the 
 light and looked through, the mark was quite 
 visible. The dead fin had been cut off, and it 
 was this mark that drew the attention of the 
 fishermen, for the punched out mark of the gill 
 cover could only be detected after careful inspec- 
 tion, which rendered this mark almost useless. 
 This was to be regretted, as it was the mark 
 easiest put on the fish and that injured it least. 
 Although the mended covering of the punched 
 out hole was of a lighter colour, still the difference 
 was not sufficient to attract the eye of the fisher- 
 men, and from this reason it was a failure, as few 
 could be expected to be reported having this 
 mark. This fish weighed 3 J Ibs., and was sent to 
 Sir William Jardine, who wished the first fish 
 sent to him having any of the marks. It was 
 generally thought at the time that the gill mark 
 would not close up, but future experimenting 
 proved that this was not the case. Lunan Bay is 
 said to be the place where the river Tay entered 
 the sea before the historical period the chain of 
 lochs through Strathmore almost placing this 
 beyond a doubt; for were the rocks which cross 
 
66 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the river at the Linn of Campsie joined together, 
 as they must have been at one period, the Tay 
 would still enter the sea at this bay. It is also 
 singular that in this bay a number of the salmon 
 marked by the Duke of Athole have been caught; 
 and the fishermen acknowledge that the most of 
 the fish caught at this place are Tay salmon. 
 
 By the end of the first week in June, as in 
 former years, about one-half of the fry in the 
 pond had left as smoults at the age of 13 or 14 
 months, and the other half still remained as parrs, 
 although, as on former occasions, there was no 
 obstruction to keep them from entering the river, 
 and going off with the smoults. This repetition 
 of the same phenomenon convinced every candid 
 observer that this process took place in the river 
 as well as in artificial rearing; but we shall see 
 afterwards that this anomaly will account for 
 much that was before considered dark in the 
 history of this fish. 
 
 On the 13th of July, of this year, 1857, 
 there were taken at a fishing station near Mon- 
 trose 155 grilses, and one of these was a Stor- 
 montfield fish. The tacksman wrote to Mr 
 Buist, "that he had sent away a marked grilse 
 about 4 Ibs. weight. It had a small round 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 67 
 
 hole through the gill- cover, and a piece of the 
 dead fin cut off. Does it answer any of your 
 Tay marks V This tacksman evidently did not 
 know what was this year's mark; and, as he has 
 described it correctly, there can be little doubt 
 of it being one of the marked smoults of this 
 year. In this instance, the hole had only partially 
 closed up. In addition, a number of grilse bear- 
 ing the mark were caught and sent to the super- 
 intendent, but in every instance the mark in the 
 gill-cover was filled up. The want of the adipose 
 fin called the attention of the fishermen to the 
 fish, and, when closely examined, the excision, 
 although covered over, was plainly discernible. 
 On the 28th of July a fine grilse, weighing 7 Ibs., 
 was caught at Tappie station one of Lord. Gray's 
 fishings which was at once recognised by the 
 fishermen as a pond-marked fish. Mr Buist sent 
 it to Sir William Jardine, who stated that he was 
 quite satisfied that it was a pond fish of this year's 
 marking, but he regretted the filling-up of the 
 mark made in the gill, as the fish would have 
 been more easily recognised had the mark not 
 closed up. At Sir William's suggestion a number 
 of smoults were marked by the same instrument 
 as those that were turned into the river and put 
 
68 NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 into the filtering-pond, when it was found, on 
 capturing them some months afterwards, that the 
 hole had closed up clearly proving that Nature 
 makes every effort to perfect this covering to 
 protect the gills. No ringed fish was caught, 
 which was much regretted; and we question if 
 ever a foreign substance can be inserted into a 
 smoult at least, while in the fresh water that 
 will remain for any length of time attached to the 
 fish after it goes to the sea. 
 
 On the 1st of October, 1857, the celebrated M. 
 Coste, Professor in the College of France, and 
 whose successful experiments in the artificial 
 breeding of fish and re-stocking the rivers of that 
 country, are well-known, paid a visit to Stormont- 
 field. JThe Professor spoke in high terms of the 
 manner in which the experiment had been con- 
 ducted, and carefully inspected the fry in the pond. 
 M. Coste recommended that some more small 
 ponds should be added to the one in operation, 
 so as to enable the experiments in the natural 
 history of the salmon to be thoroughly investi- 
 gated, but this suggestion, as it involved expense, 
 was never acted upon; for although the rental of 
 the salmon fishing on the Tay is, at the present 
 time, about 14,000 a-year, some at least of 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 69 
 
 the proprietors object to the small sum about 
 50 that is required annually to keep up the 
 present establishment. 
 
 FOUKTH SPAWNING, 1857. 
 
 On the 12th of November this year, 1857, the 
 artificial spawning of the salmon commenced, and 
 finished on the 2d of December, during which 
 time 15 salmon and 14 grilse were spawned, 
 giving about 150,000 ova. Besides, in his re- 
 port to the proprietors, Mr Buist states " that 89 
 salmon and 78 grilse were landed in the net, but 
 not being fully ripe, were, with the greatest care, 
 returned to the river, after being marked with 
 copper wire. None of the fish seemed to suffer 
 in the least, and all went away in a very lively 
 state."* Peter Marshall manipulated, and 188 
 boxes were filled. Mr Shaw of Drumlanrigg 
 had already stated that he had successfully ex- 
 perimented with the milt of the male parr shed 
 on the ova of the female salmon, and this sea- 
 son it was resolved that this experiment should 
 be repeated. A female salmon, of about 20 
 
 * The only one reported as retaken with this mark was a salmon, 
 13 J Ibs., caught in Largo Bay, on the 6th of September, 1858, the wire 
 of which was sent to me. 
 
70 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 Ibs. weight, was caught, in excellent spawning 
 condition, and the keeper having provided, from 
 the pond, a number of male parrs, artificially 
 reared, in a similar state, the ova was fecundated 
 by their milt. Two parrs were required for every 
 400 or 500 ova. The milt of the parr appeared 
 to have the same effect on the ova as that from 
 the male salmon, and it was expected, therefore, 
 that they would hatch. They were put in boxes 
 by themselves, and carefully attended. M. Coste, 
 when visiting the ponds, recommended that ex- 
 periments should also be made upon the ova of 
 sea-trout (salmo trutta), impregnated by the milt 
 of salmon (salmo salar); but it was thought, 
 as there were no additional ponds to receive 
 the fry, it would be better not to give occa- 
 sion to any one to say that the fry had been 
 mixed; and this principle has been followed 
 out all along in the Stormontfield experiment, 
 as nothing but the salmo salar has been ex- 
 perimented upon. The keeper, however, fur- 
 nished the writer with a few ova taken from a 
 female sea-trout, impregnated with the milt of 
 a grilse, and, in 60 days, by the syphon process, 
 the water at a temperature of 44, the ova were 
 hatched. They appeared to be weakly, larger 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT. 71 
 
 in the head and longer in proportion than the 
 fry of the salar in the same stage. We had no 
 proper way of keeping them at the time, but they 
 lived for 40 days. It would be interesting, if 
 not advantageous, to the proprietors of the salmon 
 fishings to carry out this experiment, so as to 
 ascertain if such a fish would live and propagate 
 its kind. As M. Coste recommended, experi- 
 ments should also be made with the ova of the 
 salmo trutta, or sea-trout, and also with the ova 
 of the salmo eriox, if it were only for the pur- 
 pose of ascertaining by comparison if there is any 
 recognisable difference in the parr and smoult of 
 this fish and that of the salmo salar or salmon. 
 But we are afraid that the expense of the addi- 
 tional apparatus will deter the Tay proprietors 
 from prosecuting these researches, as hitherto 
 they have shown little inclination to proceed 
 further than they have already done. 
 
 HATCHING OF 1858. 
 
 The ova of this hatching, having had a very 
 favourable season, burst their covering on the 2d 
 of March there were hardly any addled eggs. 
 On the 17th of April the first smoults belonging 
 to the previous hatching made their appearance 
 
72 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 in the marking box on their way to the sea. The 
 mark this year was cutting off the dead fin and ;i 
 portion of the upper part of the tail. Mr Harvey 
 of (llasgow again furnished 100 silver rings, 
 which to all appearance seemed to promise fair, 
 but none of these so marked smoults were ever 
 reported as having been taken. About 50 of the 
 fiy were also marked by copper-gilt wire inserted 
 into the fleshy part of the tail, and likewise in 
 the back behind the dead fin with a like result. 
 When the pond was emptying it was discovered 
 that there were from 50 to 60 of the fry that 
 were still parrs, about two dozen of which were 
 caught and put by Mr Walsh into the filtering 
 pond; and we put a dozen into a small run of 
 water on our premises, and these fish did not 
 become smoults till next April. This is a curious 
 fact, for in size these fish were equal with those 
 that left the pond as smoults. They increased 
 only about an inch in size by next spring, 1859, 
 but they had become smoults, and by the spring 
 of 1860, they had not grown more than another 
 inch. It was interesting to watch the change of 
 colour which came over them during the spawning 
 months, but we believe none of them were ever 
 dissected so as to ascertain if the females con- 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 73 
 
 ova. During a flood in the lade which 
 the filtering pond with water, they 
 t,o escape inl.o the lade, which wan 
 much to be regretted We shall have occasion to 
 jv i k after-wards of one of those in our possession. 
 The spring of 1858 was one of the most 
 backward experienced for many years, and the 
 fry in the pond were late of becoming smoults. 
 On the 8th of May we marked 25 with the 
 silver ring behind the dead fin, and about 50 
 with gilt copper wire; but the mark this season 
 was cutting off the dead fin entirely, which fin 
 has hecn proved docs not grow a^ain, hence no 
 other mark could be depended upon. The 
 smoults this year were larger and finer grown 
 than on any previous occasion specimens may 
 be seen of them in the superintendent's office, 
 and also in the museum of the Literary and 
 Antiquarian Society of Perth. The silver rings 
 are no doubt an attraction to the enemies of the 
 fry; for in this instance, when the marking sluice 
 was opened, and the fish allowed to escape into 
 the river, a pike or large trout gave a plunge, 
 and the keeper exclaimed, "There goes one of 
 our smoults/' We dulled the rings after this, 
 but we have no doubt that a small fish carrying 
 
74 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 a silver ring in its back must be very attractive 
 to pikes and other enemies. 
 
 The hatching of 1858 turned out very prolific, 
 for the lower canal contained as many fish, 
 as, if allowed to come to maturity, would 
 have covered the whole rental of the Tay 
 for one year; and when it is considered that 
 these fish would meet with no accident in the 
 pond as ten per cent, of deaths has not hap- 
 pened in any year since the ponds were estab- 
 lished it will be easy to see the value of artificial 
 rearing. At this time a visit to the ponds must 
 have been very interesting to the naturalist, for 
 the fry of salmon, the fry of grilse and salmon, 
 the fry of grilse, and the fry of salmon and parr 
 kept in separate boxes might have been seen 
 swimming about, and compared. On the closest 
 inspection, no difference was perceptible either in 
 the form, colour, size, or markings of any of these 
 fish. There were larger and smaller fry to be 
 seen amongst all these hatchings. 
 
 Very few of the smoults of this exodus May, 
 1858 were reported as grilse to Mr Buist as 
 taken in the net, the fishermen not giving them- 
 selves the trouble; but a number were captured 
 by anglers with the undoubted mark, namely, the 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT. 75 
 
 dead fin cut off, and a piece off the upper part of 
 the tail. The late Professor Queckett of London, 
 while angling in the Tay, near the ponds, in the 
 month of September, caught a fine grilse of 6 Ibs. 
 weight, as he reported, with the undoubted mark 
 of 1858; and many more taken with the rod were 
 reported to us. None of those that were marked 
 by the silver rings or gilt copper wire were ever 
 known to have been taken. The boxes were not 
 re-stocked in 1858, as they can only be re-stocked 
 every alternate year, from there being only one 
 pond, as previously stated, and as it takes two 
 years to bring all the parrs into the smoult state, 
 and even then a few are still parrs. 
 
 EXODUS OF 1859. HATCHING OF 1858. 
 
 On the 14th of April of this year, it was 
 evident that many of the hatching of 1858 had 
 become smoults; but it was not until the second 
 week in May that the first smoult left the pond 
 of its own accord. Mr Buist was convinced that 
 it was useless to mark the fry in any other way 
 than by cutting off the dead or second dorsal fin, 
 as all other marks had hitherto failed. The 
 number marked this year was 506. 
 
 The first grilse reported as taken with this 
 
76 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 year's mark was caught at the North Inch station. 
 Mr Speedy, tacksman, who has all along shown 
 much interest in the experiment, and is therefore 
 an exception to most of the other tacksmen, 
 apprised Mr Buist of the circumstance, who was 
 so kind as send us notice of its capture. In 
 company with Mr Buist we examined the fish, 
 and found that it weighed 3J Ibs. Mr Speedy 
 cut off the dead fin from some grilse that were 
 lying beside the pond fish, to show that it was 
 impossible to deceive, by any recent abstraction 
 of the fin, for the pond-fish had the part covered 
 by skin and scales. The fish, when marked as a 
 smoult, weighed not more than an ounce, or an 
 ounce and a-half, at the most, had increased in 
 weight 3 Ib. 3 oz. in six weeks. The take of 
 grilse this season was unprecedented, for on 
 Monday, the first of August, one tacksman alone 
 caught upwards of a ton weight of salmon and 
 grilse. Counting them was out of the question, 
 far less looking for pond fish amongst them. 
 They were shovelled into boxes as fast as boxes 
 could be made, weighed, and sent off to London; 
 but we may infer that had they been examined, 
 many pond fish would have been found amongst 
 them. 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 77 
 
 SPAWNING OF 1859. 
 
 This year, 1859, the first net was shot at the 
 mouth of the Almond, in order to obtain spawning 
 fish to re-stock the boxes. The following is Mr 
 Buist's report of the fish taken; 150 boxes were 
 filled: 
 
 Taken 
 
 
 
 Salmon. 
 
 Grilse. 
 
 Male. 
 
 Female. 
 
 Ova. 
 
 Nov. 
 
 15, 
 
 10 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 17, 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 60,000 
 
 u 
 
 21, 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 u 
 
 23, 
 
 20 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 30,000 
 
 u 
 
 25, 
 
 16 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 10,000 
 
 u 
 
 26, 
 
 38 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 60,000 
 
 u 
 
 28, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1,000 
 
 u 
 
 30, 
 
 46 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 40,000 
 
 Dec. 
 
 2, 
 
 44: 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 30,000 
 
 u 
 
 3, 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 4,000 
 
 u 
 
 13, 
 
 16 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 20,000 
 
 297 31 19 32 255,000 
 
 Nearly all the ova that were deposited this 
 season were salmon ova fecundated by the milt 
 of male salmon,* in order to test, on a larger scale 
 than was tried in any former experiment, if the 
 proportion of fry remaining parr for two years 
 would, under these circumstances, be still the 
 same; and the result has shown that there is no 
 
 * There was only one female grilse spawned on the 28th November. 
 
78 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 difference, either in quantity or appearance of the 
 fry, after the first year, from fry raised from 
 grilse alone, or salmon and grilse conjoined, or 
 even salmon and parr. All take the same time 
 to hatch, and in equal proportions arrive at the 
 smoult state at the same time. 
 
 HATCHING OF 1860. 
 
 The winter of 1859 and 1860 was very un- 
 favourable for the hatching of the ova, and fears 
 were entertained that a good portion would be 
 destroyed by the severity of the weather; but 
 although this retarded the young brood, they 
 turned out as numerous as on former occasions. 
 The keeper reported the first ovum to have 
 been hatched on the 10th of April. The first 
 of the ova having been deposited on the 17th of 
 November, it had taken 145 days to hatch, 
 which is about a month longer than it would 
 have required had the season been mild and 
 good. The keeper says that 128 days was the 
 longest previous time of hatching since the ex- 
 periment commenced. He also stated that the 
 temperature of the water, after the deposition 
 of the ova, never was higher than 36 degrees. 
 The two-year old fry in the pond at this time 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 79 
 
 were still in the parr state, and it was not until 
 the beginning of May that they commenced to 
 put on the smoult dress. By the 26th of this 
 month the pond was emptied to admit the young 
 fry that were in the boxes and canals. As on 
 former occasions, when emptying the pond, it 
 was discovered that from 50 to 100 of the fry 
 were still in the parr state. A few of these were 
 put into the filtering pond, and did not become 
 smoults until 1861, the rest were put into the 
 river. 670 smoults were marked this year. The 
 mark was cutting off the dead fin and a part of 
 the lower part of the tail. In order to prove 
 whether the fins grew after having been cut, Mr 
 Buist again desired the keeper to cut off the 
 dead, or second dorsal fin, and part of the tail 
 fin, and also to mark the gill cover with Mr 
 Baton's pinchers, on a number of the two-year 
 old parrs that had not assumed the smoult scales, 
 before he put them into the filtering pond, and 
 the result was that all the marks became obli- 
 terated except the marking by cutting off the 
 dead fin, which never was replaced. On the first 
 of March, 1860, Eobert Nicholson, Esq., who 
 rented the rod-fishing at Stanley, killed a fine 
 salmon with the mark of 1855. It weighed 22 
 
80 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 Ibs. A good many grilse were reported as hav- 
 ing been caught this summer with the mark, and 
 also a number of salmon of the previous hatch- 
 ings; but we believe no regular account was 
 kept the fishermen still being so much against 
 the experiment. 
 
 EXODUS OF THE FEY, 1861. 
 
 The winter of 1860-61 having proved so 
 severe, it was the third week in May ere the 
 keeper reported that the smoults in any great 
 numbers were descending to the river. The fry 
 of this year being from salmon ova, much 
 curiosity was felt to discover if the smoults were 
 larger, or had any difference in appearance from 
 former hatchings. On the most careful inspec- 
 tion no difference could be detected, for although 
 many were fine large smoults, not a few had 
 not grown larger than minnows, and had the 
 parr marks well defined. The question, then, 
 Whether all the fry that became smoults the first 
 year were the produce of salmon alone? is now 
 set at rest, and we are at as great a loss as ever 
 to account for the difference of age at which 
 parr of the same hatching become smoults. We 
 suspect it is a law in the history of the salmo 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 81 
 
 salar that will never be unriddled. The marking 
 this year was omitted. 
 
 The same remarks with regard to the takes of 
 marked fish of former seasons may be applied to 
 this. No marked grilse could be looked for, but 
 we heard of several salmon of former markings 
 having been captured, both with net and rod, 
 though not officially reported to the superinten- 
 dent. Few, if any, of the fishermen have any doubt 
 about the matter when they capture a pond fish, 
 but they will not take the trouble to report; and 
 until that is done in every case, no correct data 
 can be formed of what the experiment has done 
 and is accomplishing in increasing the number of 
 salmon in the Tay. The matter, we think, rests 
 with the proprietors of the fishings themselves, 
 who, on letting their fishings, could bind down 
 the tacksmen, so that their men would be obliged 
 to report on all pond fish taken. Without some- 
 thing be done towards arriving at more than 
 a mere guess, it is next to useless going on 
 marking the smoults. 
 
 We have now described the experiment as it 
 proceeded, up to the present time. The hatching 
 boxes have again been re-stocked for this year, 
 1862; but, from the flooded state of the Tay 
 
82 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 during the spawning months of 1861, the quantity 
 of ova obtained was small. The keeper, however, 
 has collected a considerable amount from the beds 
 which were left almost dry when the river fell 
 low, by this means securing the ova which other- 
 wise would have been lost. 
 
 The question that now remains to be considered 
 is, Has the artificial propagation, even on the 
 small scale that has been carried on at Stormont- 
 field, been of advantage to the fishing proprietors 
 on the Tay? We have no doubt about the 
 matter, for on referring to a statement of the 
 rental of the Tay published by the proprietors 
 themselves, we find that in the year 1828 the 
 year of the passing of Home Drurnmond's Act 
 the rental was 14,574. It gradually fell off 
 every year afterwards until 1852, when it reached 
 the minimum, amounting to 7,973 5s. In 
 1853 the artificial rearing commenced, and in 
 1858, when the statement was printed, the rental 
 was 11,487 2s 5d; it has now, 1862, reached 
 what it was in 1828. We are aware that other 
 reasons are given for the rise in the rental, such 
 as the extra price of the fish in the London 
 market; but we should like to know how it 
 happens that all the other rivers in Scotland (with 
 
STORMONTFIELP EXPERIMENT. 83 
 
 the exception perhaps of the Sutherland rivers) 
 which have the same market for their fish, have, 
 since 1852, had a lower rental instead of an 
 increased one. It is true that in 1853, 1854, 
 and 1855, the proprietors of the Tay voluntarily 
 agreed to close their net fishings upon the 26th of 
 August instead of the 14th of September, and 
 that, in 1858, an Act was passed legalising that 
 agreement, which has no doubt done much to 
 increase the number of fish in the river; still we 
 are of opinion that the great rise of the rental in 
 nine years cannot be accounted for in any other 
 way than from the pond-bred fish, and if the 
 fishing proprietors would see to their own in- 
 terests, they would have many acres of breeding 
 boxes and ponds made to rear and preserve their 
 young fish. At present, however, their rental is 
 in the ascendant, and they are contented; but, 
 should a reverse take place, we would then see 
 artificial propagation much in favour. 
 
 In corroboration of these remarks, and of the 
 advantages to be derived from the artificial culture 
 of salmon, we have been favoured with the fol- 
 lowing remarks upon the subject by Mr Thomas 
 Ashworth, the originator of the experiment, and 
 we are at liberty to say that his conclusions have 
 
84 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 received the sanction of Mr Ffennell, one of the 
 commissioners on the Irish fisheries. Mr Ash- 
 worth and his brother are the proprietors of 
 the Galway fisheries, which, with the districts 
 of Lochs Mask and Carra, comprise an area 
 of 30 miles long by 10 wide, and which re- 
 ceive the waters of some of the finest tributaries 
 for the purposes of propagation. Mr Ashworth's 
 experiments in artificial propagation in that quar- 
 ter of Ireland are too well known to need re- 
 petition; and we are glad to learn that he is 
 still carrying on his experiments, as, this season, 
 he has deposited at the least 659,000 salmon 
 ova in the tributary streams of Lochs Mask 
 and Carra, where salmon ova were never seen 
 before, although both these lochs are connected 
 with Loch Corrib, which abounds with salmon 
 a natural barrier of rocks preventing the 
 ascent of the fish. This barrier Mr Ashworth 
 is about to remove, as not a single fish has been 
 observed to pass up; we have no doubt, however, 
 but that the smoults reared in the upper tribu- 
 taries will seek their way back to their native 
 stream, and in a few years stock these lochs and 
 rivers with this fine fish. We shall be glad to 
 hear of the success of this experiment, which will 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 85 
 
 tend further to elucidate the history of the salmon. 
 Whether this gigantic experiment succeeds or 
 proves a failure, Mr Ashworth deserves the thanks 
 of the country for his labours. Mr Ashworth, in 
 advocating the adoption by salmon proprietors of 
 artificial culture, states it as his opinion, and that 
 of Mr Ffennell also, that not above 1 in 6000 sal- 
 mon ova, deposited naturally in the bed of a river, 
 arrives at the grilse or salmon state and becomes 
 marketable. Their reasons for coming to this 
 conclusion are, "that, as 12,000 fish were caught 
 in his river in one year on their way to the 
 spawning beds, these fish must have ascended the 
 river the previous year, and also the year previous 
 to that, and that at least half that quantity must 
 have gone up for the third or fourth years, con- 
 sequently that more than 24,000 fish, of various 
 ages, ascended the river annually, and taking one- 
 half to be females, we get 12,000 fish of various 
 sizes, from 6 to 12 Ibs. each, and producing, as 
 is well known, at the least, 6000 ova each 
 fish, would yield 72,000,000 of ova deposited, 
 or 1 from 6000 ova deposited naturally in the 
 river. Stormontfield ponds, we know, have 
 hatched 300,000 ova in one year; this quantity 
 hatched in a natural way, in the bed of the 
 
86 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 river, would have produced one matured fish 
 to each 6000 ova so deposited. Then arises 
 the question, how many smoults were raised and 
 liberated out of the 300,000 eggs? We think 
 we may calculate upon 30,000, or 1 in 100 
 of the quantity sent to the sea. We have no 
 means of ascertaining the quantity that did 
 return; but one thing is certain, that we are 
 enabled, by artificial means, to send to sea a vast 
 deal more smoults than would have gone had the 
 same quantity of ova been hatched in the river, 
 where it is exposed to all its enemies for the space 
 of fifteen months. We also know that, just in 
 proportion to the quantity of smoults migrating 
 to the sea, an increased or decreased quantity 
 return to the rivers. We know, also, that the 
 smoults go to the sea in millions, and the only 
 return we get as grilse and salmon is the com- 
 paratively few thousands that we catch. Expe- 
 rience proves to us that the produce of 12,000 
 salmon would be at least 72 millions of ova, and 
 yet, from this vast quantity of seed, we have 
 returned as salmon only as many fish as are pro- 
 duced from the ova of two or three fish, or, say 
 one fish for 6000 ova. It is evident that the loss 
 in the rivers is great; and of the amount that 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 87 
 
 takes place in the sea we have no means of 
 ascertaining it, but we know that it is beyond 
 calculation, the enemies of the salmon are so 
 numerous." 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON AS LEARNED 
 FROM THE STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 
 
 We shall now proceed to state what the Stor- 
 montfield experiment has taught us of the Natural 
 History of the Salmon. 
 
 The parr, that little active fish that is to be 
 found in all salmon and trout rivers, was gene- 
 rally considered (not forty years ago) to be a fish 
 sui generis; and even at the present time, by 
 many persons who have not given themselves the 
 trouble to inquire into the matter, parrs are 
 believed to be full-grown, perfect fish. Learned 
 judges have been puzzled on this question; and 
 how could it be otherwise, from the conflicting 
 evidence given (witness the Dunblane case) before 
 them by fishermen who had been all their lives 
 engaged in salmon fishing, as to what a parr is? 
 Hogg, Shaw, and Young, were the first that 
 proved that, at any rate, the fry of the salmon, 
 salmo salar, was a parr before it became a salmon; 
 
88 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 but the Stormontfield experiment, having been 
 done on a more extensive scale, and repeated from 
 year to year, with the same results, has settled the 
 question. Almost all fishermen and superficial 
 observers believed, because there were parrs to 
 be found in salmon rivers at all times, the parr 
 was a distinct fish ; but the experiment has shown 
 that this error was likely to arise from one-half of 
 the hatching of a fish's ova becoming smoults the 
 first year, the other half remaining in the river 
 for another year as parrs, and in some few in- 
 stances for three years, ere they are ready to 
 migrate. These observers, also, never took it into 
 account that the fry of the salnio trutta (sea 
 trout), salmo eriox (bull trout), salmo fario (com- 
 mon trout), are all parr in their young state all 
 marked with transverse bars in nearly the same 
 manner, the difference between them and the parr 
 of the salmo salar, or salmon, being so slight that, 
 except to the naturalist, little or no distinction is 
 perceptible hence the number of fry that was 
 constantly destroyed in the parr state must have 
 been great it was only when migratory parrs be- 
 came smoults that they were protected by law. 
 We also learn that the ova of salmon, at least, are 
 not fecundated until they leave the fish, and that 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 89 
 
 the malejgarr is as fit to continue its species as \ 
 the adult male^ salmon,, but nQ female parr has 
 yet been discovered with roe developed. The 
 experiment has also established the fact that there 
 is no difference in the length of time taken to 
 hatch, or the appearance of the fry after hatching, 
 up to the smoult state, between the fry of salmon, 
 grilse, salmon and grilse, salmon and parr, or 
 grilse and parr. 
 
 It has also been ascertained that the fry of the 
 first year that assume the migratory dress, are 
 composed of both sexes in nearly equal propor- 
 tions, and it makes no difference whether the fry 
 be reared from salmon or grilse, or salmon and 
 grilse, or salmon and parr, or grilse and parr. 
 Why those that remain behind for another year t 
 do so, and a few no doubt of each hatching for a 
 year more, we cannot tell, but such is the fact; and 
 the best reason we can venture to give is, that 
 by this means the river has always fish in it, that 
 will migrate at least a month sooner in the spring 
 than the fry of the first year, and also that male 
 parrs will always be at hand in the river during 
 the spawning months in a fit condition to supply 
 the want of male salmon, when that occurs, which 
 is a wise provision in nature, as many females in j 
 
90 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 / small and distant tributaries might be left with- 
 \ out a mate, if there were no parrs, male parrs 
 \ having been proved to be in a breeding state 
 ) at that time. 
 
 The question of salmon spawning in the sea 
 has also been settled no salmon will spawn 
 in the sea, if it can help it as salt water 
 destroys the ova. The experiment has demon- 
 strated the practicability of rearing salmon arti- 
 ficially, fit for the market, within twenty_jnonths 
 from the deposition of the ova and the great 
 value of artificial production as it is ascer- 
 tained that not above ten per cent, of the ova 
 deposited in the boxes is lost, and not above 
 twenty per cent, additional, but arrives at the 
 smoult state and is sent into the river (the 
 keeper's report is much under this) whereas it is 
 generally supposed that not above 1 in 1000* 
 of those naturally deposited in the river ever 
 arrive at the smoult state being the prey of 
 fowl, fish, insects, and many other -enemies. It 
 has been also noticed that not a few of the ova 
 deposited in the natural way miss the fecundat- 
 ing milt, and are lost; and when we take into 
 
 * Mr Ashworth and Mr Ffennell, as previously shown, estimate 1 in 
 6000. 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPEEIMENT. 91 
 
 account the great quantity that is deposited dur- 
 ing floods on places that are left dry when the 
 river falls in, and also the numbers of redds 
 that are sanded up by large spates, we need not 
 wonder if only 1 in 1000 should ever become 
 marketable. The keeper this season January, 
 1862 has been employed for many days carrying 
 the spawn which has been deposited in places of the 
 river which have been left nearly dry, by the river 
 falling in, and spawn sanded up by the spates, and 
 placing it in the boxes to be artificially reared. 
 Hence the obvious advantage of artificial breed- 
 ing to rivers that have been overfished, or to 
 those that have been destroyed by poaching and 
 obstructions on the river to the ascent of the 
 spawning fish, etc., etc. 
 
 That the smoults return again to the river in j 
 which they are reared, has also been proved by ' 
 the number of the marked grilse which have 
 been caught in the Tay since the experiment 
 commenced. If all the smoults which left the 
 pond since the first exodus in 1855 had been 
 marked by cutting off the second dorsal fin, 
 we are quite satisfied that scarcely a day dur- 
 ing the fishing season would pass without grilse 
 or salmon bearing the mark being captured; 
 
92 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 but the marking of two or three hundred 
 thousand fish is a difficult process, seeing they 
 leave the pond in such immense shoals; how- 
 ever, undoubtedly many more might have been 
 marked, if more hands had been employed to do 
 it. One great difficulty in marking is, the shoals 
 generally leave during the night: it is true the 
 sluice, which is always open, might have been 
 kept shut during that time, and only opened 
 during the day; but we would not approve of 
 keeping back the fish at any time when willing 
 to go. We understand Mr Buist is to arrange 
 for as many as possible being marked this 
 spring. 
 
 The experiment, also, has proved that the 
 marked grilse of one year return as salmon the 
 next; and we think it has also proved that all 
 the smoults of one year do not return the same 
 year as grilse, the one-half returning next spring 
 and summer as small salmon. This idea was first 
 suggested by a correspondent in the Perthshire 
 Courier, who says, "That the habit of the salmon 
 species, in adopting a double or divided migra- 
 tion to the sea as smoults and from the sea in 
 their later stages, has only been known within 
 these few years. It was discovered, in regard to 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 93 
 
 smoults, by means of the Stormontfield ponds, \ 
 and it is a far more important discovery than the I 
 parr question, which was settled by these ponds. / 
 People have been endeavouring, by all sorts of 
 theories, to account for this divided migration of 
 the smoults; some say that the males went and 
 the females stayed, others that the produce of old 
 salmon went and those of the grilse remained; 
 but the fact is, simply, that it is a habit of the 
 fish. A little reflection enables us to see that it 
 is not confined to the first migration, but is re- 
 peated on the return of the smoults as grilse one 
 year and as salmon the next, and on the return 
 of the old fish after spawning one-half coming 
 back the following summer, and the rest not re- 
 turning till the spring of the succeeding year. 
 This habit of the fish has enveloped the subject 
 in difficulty, but a clear apprehension of its truth 
 will unravel the mystery." The writer also says, 
 "We may only further remark that Mr Mackenzie 
 of Dundonnell, in his Appendix to his father's 
 book, lately published, in attempting to clear up 
 this matter, has missed the blot, and has started 
 a grievous heresy, viz., that salmon and grilse are 
 different kinds of fish. Of course, this is out of 
 the question altogether, for the same lot of ova at 
 
94 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the Stormontfield ponds has produced smoults 
 that were caught marked as grilse the first sea- 
 son, and salmon the second; but his idea may be 
 taken as a corroboration of what we have stated, 
 to this extent, that all the smoults do not return 
 the first summer, but that those that are to return 
 as salmon remain in the sea from fifteen to 
 eighteen months; but that this is a provision of 
 nature, or natural habit of the same species of fish, 
 we affirm to be the true solution of the riddle, 
 without resorting to the desperate expedient 
 of maintaining, as Mr Mackenzie has done, that 
 salmon and grilse are different species!" We 
 quite agree with this writer, as his idea is the only 
 one that will explain why clean salmon, having 
 only a thread of milt or roe in them, are to be 
 found in salmon rivers in the months of Decem- 
 ber, January, and February. These fish are falsely 
 called barren fish, but this is not the case, as many 
 have been dissected by Mr Ffennell, and in his 
 examination before the Lords' Commission (see 
 Appendix) he proves that these fish were not bar- 
 ren, but had ova perfectly developed, although as 
 small as a mustard seed. He says, "These fish do 
 not spawn until November and December follow- 
 ing, remaining ten or twelve months in the fresh 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 95 
 
 water, their ova developing until ready to spawn, v 
 and although they get very much coloured by 
 being so long in the fresh water, and not a very 
 good-looking fish to send to the market, it is a 
 right good fish to eat/' We were so fortunate as 
 to capture one of these fish with the fly, in one of 
 the Sutherlandshire rivers, and, as we had never 
 seen a salmon so much coloured in the summer 
 season, we imagined it was a fish near the spawn- 
 ing. We were about to return it to the river, 
 when the keeper, who was with us, said it was a 
 fine clean fish, and put it in the creel It turned 
 out so, and, as Mr Ffennell says, " right good to 
 eat." Mr Ffennell also remarks, " I think it as 
 clear as possible, that the object of the law that 
 governs them is to cause the fish to distribute 
 themselves throughout the whole length and 
 breadth of the river/' These fish, by ascending \ 
 the river so early to. spawn, and having the spawn \ 
 so slightly developed, are strong, and able to I 
 overcome falls, and penetrate to the extreme \ 
 feeders of the river, whereas those fish that do 
 not leave the sea until heavy with spawn, could 
 never overcome falls, or ascend any considerable^/ 
 distance. Now, we think that the anomaly ascer- 
 tained to occur in the migration of the fry ex- 
 
96 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 plains all this, and accounts for the seeming 
 irregularity in the history of the fish, which is 
 still carried on in all its stages of growth, as we 
 have previously shown when in the grilse state, 
 and this knowledge is again the result of the 
 Stormontfield experiment. Further, the experi- 
 ment has proved that all the smoults do not re- 
 turn the same season as grilse, but that not a few 
 of them remain in the sea, and do not return to 
 the river until the spring and summer of next 
 season, not as grilse, but as salmon of from 4 
 to 10 Ibs. weight. The smoults with the mark 
 of the first exodus which were caught were not 
 all captured as grilse, but some of them were taken 
 the following spring as small salmon, which ex- 
 plained what had never been accounted for 
 namely, the cause of small spring fish. Every 
 fisherman was familiar with the appearance of 
 the spring salmon they generally succeeded the 
 large strong early runners ; but a few are always 
 caught running up along with them. We saw 
 one taken on the 1st of February this year, 1862, 
 at Burnmouth station, which weighed only 5J 
 Ibs., which was, although a salmon, only a late 
 grilse of last year. The scales of this fish when 
 taken out of the water were not easily removed 
 
STOEMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 97 
 
 by the hand, like the scales of the grilse, and 
 the tail was not so forked. 
 
 ON THE ADVANTAGES OF THE AETIFICIAL PROPA- 
 GATION AND BEARING OF THE FEY OF SALMON 
 UNTIL THEY KEACH THE MIGEATOEY PEEIOD. 
 
 Some naturalists, when they have discovered a 
 new species of fish, are quite satisfied after they 
 have arranged and classified it according to some 
 well-known system, or perhaps a new one invented 
 by themselves. They give the creature their own 
 name, with a Latin or Greek termination, and 
 hand it over to the public. But how much is 
 learned of the history of a fish by an anatomical 
 knowledge of its structure may be seen by the 
 little that is yet known of the true history of the 
 herring (clupea harengus), or what is yet to be 
 learned of the history of the salmon. Prying into 
 details, and searching out the habits of some well- 
 known individual of the piscatory family, may 
 appear dry work to the ardent naturalist; but the 
 labour in the end would be more useful in an 
 economical point of view. From the discoveries 
 which have been made with regard to what are 
 the real enemies of the young salmon in its na- 
 
98 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 tural haunts, we are prepared and have the means 
 in our power, to save it from them until it reaches 
 the smoult state, ready for migrating to the sea. 
 
 That much destruction of smoults takes place in 
 the salt water, there can be little doubt its 
 enemies there are as numerous and more voracious 
 than even those of the river; but when the animal 
 is so destroyed in both its habitats, it is marvellous 
 that so many are left, and were it not for the 
 enormous produce of this fish, it would soon 
 become extinct. Man is another great enemy 
 not so much, perhaps, from the numbers that are 
 caught by him and sent to the market, but from 
 his barring up the rivers to the ascent of the fish 
 to its secure spawning grounds, by fixed engines 
 of all kinds, weirs, dam dykes, etc., etc. ; for unless 
 the salmon can have a free run in spring and 
 summer when the fish is at the strongest it is 
 unable, when full of spawn, to surmount the 
 natural obstacles which it meets with in the river, 
 and hence, instead of the small mountain streams 
 becoming the nurseries of the young fry until the 
 migration period of its existence arrives, the gravid 
 fish is compelled to deposit its ova on some ford of 
 the main stream, where they are frequently sanded 
 up to the depth of many feet by the winter 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 99 
 
 floods, and consequently lost. To obviate this, 
 and to allow a proper stock of spawners to reach 
 the higher feeders of a large river, the weekly 
 closetime should at the least be forty-eight hours. 
 The natural enemies of the salmon in the sea, man 
 has no power to curtail. This is not the case, 
 however, in the fresh water, for he can increase 
 or diminish by his protecting or destroying them, 
 with the exception of the insect tribe, over which 
 he can have little or no control. To diminish 
 the number of insects in a river, even if it were 
 possible, would be unwise, as their larvae and 
 themselves are the principal food of the young 
 fish; but far more of the ova of the genus salmo 
 are destroyed by the larvao of insects than by 
 all other enemies put together. The pike, the 
 river trout (salmo fario), and other foes to the 
 increase of salmon, if salmon proprietors were 
 alive to their own interest would soon be dimi- 
 nished in our salmon rivers ; instead of that, the 
 enemies of the salmon have increased for some 
 years past in most of our salmon streams. This 
 fact cannot be doubted, for at the present time 
 our salmon rivers are shut to all but the favoured 
 few who have obtained permission from the pro- 
 prietor, or who can afford to pay dearly for the 
 
100 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 privilege. The angler who contented himself with 
 returning home in the evening from a salmon 
 river with a basket full of trout and pike, is no 
 longer to be seen; in short, the salmon is now 
 the only fish that is angled for in a river of the 
 kind, and, as a natural consequence, his destroyers 
 have multiplied amazingly. But how are the 
 insects to be overcome? We know no way but 
 by artificial propagation of the fish. The mayfly 
 (ephemera), and a host of other flies, drop their 
 eggs during summer on the surface of the water 
 from which they have just arisen, which eggs, 
 from their specific gravity being heavier than 
 water, sink to the bottom, where they lie until 
 they are hatched, after which they become, when 
 encased in their shell, the most deadly foe to the 
 increase of the salmon, by devouring the ova in 
 millions. They are assisted in this process by 
 water-beetles, water-fowl, and all the other tenants 
 or occasional frequenters of the stream; besides, 
 great loss is sustained by the sanding up of the 
 ova after deposition on the fords by winter floods, 
 as has already been alluded to. 
 
 Previous to the introduction of fixed nets on 
 our coasts, and when the net and coble was not 
 fished so closely and unceasingly as it is at 
 
STOEMONTFIELD EXPEKIMENT. 101 
 
 present, mnltitudes of strong early salmon were 
 permitted to ascend the rivers and fill our High- 
 land streams with spawners, which streams con- 
 tained a fair share of marketable fish during 
 the summer months. The case is now altered, 
 and those who know these feeders will bear us 
 out when we say that there is at present not 
 one fish for an hundred that used to be found 
 in these upper waters. If this is the case in the 
 best spawning grounds of the salmon, how can 
 we expect any other result than a falling off in 
 the number of fish taken in the river? All the 
 fish which are taken in stake or bag nets will 
 never make up the deficiency; and if the law 
 is to remain as it is at present, and if these 
 nets become legalised, and if the weekly close- 
 time is not extended, the sooner our lower 
 salmon proprietors begin artificial propagation 
 on an extensive scale the better. Upper or 
 Highland proprietors of fishings can have little or 
 no interest in artificial propagation, for very few 
 fish at present are allowed to visit their waters, 
 and they cannot be expected to breed fish artifi- 
 cially for the lower proprietors. As it is, they 
 have small inducement to protect the few spawn- 
 ing fish that are permitted to reach their streams. 
 
102 NATUEAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 There cannot be any doubt but that artificial 
 propagation will greatly increase the number of 
 salmon in any river, when it has been proved 
 that not above thirty per cent, of the ova de- 
 posited artificially is lost, and about 1 in every 
 100 return as grilse : whereas, Messrs Ash worth 
 and Ffennell have calculated that not 1 in 
 6000 deposited in the river ever becomes 
 marketable. This immense difference will not 
 be wondered at when we consider how much the 
 ova deposited in the beds of our rivers are ex- 
 posed to dangers of all kinds, and to enemies 
 innumerable, whereas those deposited artificially 
 are carefully watched and protected from enemies 
 of every kind, and reared with food upon which 
 they thrive, and rival the fry of the same age 
 in the river in size and weight. 
 
 Nor is artificial rearing an expensive affair. 
 The Stormontfield ponds cost, at first, about 
 <^600, and they require about ^?50 annually for 
 their support. They send, every spring, to the 
 sea from 150,000 to 200,000 smoults, and if 
 1 in 100 of these return to the river as grilse, 
 and are caught, as Mr Buist's statement has 
 proved, the experiment must be a profitable one, 
 when we consider the small outlay. Thirty or 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 103 
 
 forty spawning fish are required to fully stock 
 the Stormontfield boxes. These fish are taken 
 from a ford at Almond Mouth, where we have 
 witnessed many dozens of pairs spawning at the 
 same time; and we are convinced that where too 
 many fish are compelled to spawn on the same 
 ford, for want of water in the river to enable 
 them to ascend, a very large per centage of the 
 spawn is lost. We have again and again seen 
 a pair of fish busy at work, the female dropping 
 her ova, and the male shedding his milt the 
 female alone covering them with the gravel, by 
 digging into the upper part of the hole she had 
 made, allowing the stream to carry down the 
 gravel. This operation takes some time to per- 
 form; but we have more than once observed that, 
 some hours afterwards, another pair of fish were 
 as busy digging away in the same spot at a simi- 
 lar operation. Now there can be no doubt but 
 that the ova deposited by the first fish was nearly 
 all destroyed by the second pair working on the 
 same ground for we saw numbers of trouts and 
 whitlings (the grilse of the salmo trutta, or sea 
 trout) busily engaged devouring the spawn as 
 it was turned up. When fish are kept from 
 running up the river, either by late fishing, or 
 
104 NATUEAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 want of water, they get gravid, and must deposit 
 their spawn on the first ford that presents itself; 
 hence we have witnessed at Perth Bridge where 
 the tide rises at spring tides eight or ten feet as 
 many as fifty fish spawning at the same time. 
 When this occurs which it does every dry 
 season when the fish are unable to ascend arti- 
 ficial rearing would save millions of fish. Or, 
 when the season has been wet, and the fish have 
 been tempted by the height of the flood to de- 
 posit their spawn in places of the river which are 
 left dry when it falls in, millions of ova can be 
 gathered up and reared artificially which would 
 otherwise be lost. The French Government, 
 under the superintendence of M. Coste, has 
 taken up the subject of pisciculture in earnest, 
 and, as is well known, great success has attended 
 its labours, and we yet hope to see artificial pro- 
 pagation more appreciated, and more extensively 
 carried out in our own country; but we are afraid 
 this will not take place until there is a still 
 greater falling off in the returns of fish from 
 our Scottish rivers, when a greatly diminished 
 rental will make our salmon proprietors converts 
 to artificial propagation, 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 105 
 
 THE SMOULT OE YOUNG SALMON AFTEE 
 MIGEATION. 
 
 In descending the river to the sea, smoults 
 congregate in shoals, rise greedily to the fly, and 
 become an easy prey to the angler. They pro- 
 ceed slowly, unless a heavy spate occurs at the 
 time, which soon sweeps them into the ocean. 
 The marked pond-bred smoults have been traced 
 all the way from that place to the salt water a 
 distance of at least twenty miles. Even those 
 marked by the rings have been brought ashore in 
 the fishermen's nets many miles below the pond, 
 and others have been observed, by the men in 
 charge of the still-net at Broughty Ferry, hav- 
 ing the ring attached, ten or twelve days after 
 marking. "What becomes of the fish after it 
 reaches the sea is as yet matter of conjecture. 
 All we know for certain is, that after six or 
 eight weeks a number return to the same river, 
 having increased in weight, from half-an-ounce 
 to between two and five pounds. What they got 
 to feed upon while in the salt water, naturalists 
 are not agreed upon,* but there is no doubt 
 that in the sea their food is abundant. Not a 
 few naturalists have said that salmon travel a 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
106 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 long distance after reaching the salt water ere 
 they return, but this we think cannot be the 
 fact, unless they were to swim at a great rate, 
 which would be against their acquiring the weight 
 and size which they attain to in so short a time. 
 Those fish, however, that do not return until 
 next year may be greater rovers; but we are 
 almost certain that this cannot be the case with 
 the early grilse they must find their food not 
 far from the river's mouth. We have already 
 stated the particulars of the smoults returning 
 as grilse. 
 
 RETURN OF SPAWNED FISH OR KELTS AS CLEAN 
 SALMON. 
 
 His Grace the Duke of Athole, for a number 
 of years past, has been experimenting on these 
 fish, and has succeeded in establishing the fact 
 that some of them at least return to the same 
 place in five or six months, having gained in 
 weight, in that time, from 7 to 10 Ibs. These 
 kelts are caught with the rod, and marked with a 
 gutta percha or copper ticket, which is fastened 
 round the tail of the fish. This ticket has the 
 Duke's name and a number on it. When the 
 kelts are caught they are weighed, a ticket is 
 
STCXRMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 107 
 
 attached, the fish is then returned to the river, 
 and the number, weight, and time of capture 
 are entered in a journal kept by his Grace. 
 
 When the fish are again caught ascending the 
 river as clean salmon, the fishermen send the 
 tickets to the inspector of the river, who forwards 
 them to his Grace. We shall here notice a few 
 of those captured, with the weight and date when 
 taken as kelts or spawned fish, and the date and 
 weight as clean fish : 
 
 1859. CAUGHT AS KELTS OB SPAWNED FISH. 
 
 No. 21 Feb. 14. Caught a little below Logierait, 10 Ibs. 
 
 No. 76 Mar. 2. Caught a little above Dunkeld, 11^ Ibs. 
 
 No. 95 Mar. 29. Do. do. do 12| Ibs. 
 
 1859. CAUGHT AS CLEAN SALMON. 
 
 No. 21 Aug. 18. Caught at Channelbank, 17 Ibs. 
 
 No. 76 Aug. 18. Do. do 17 Ibs. 
 
 No. 95 Aug. 12. Caught at Elcho Castle Fishings,* 19 Ibs. 
 
 Many more spawned fish have been marked by 
 the Duke, and from statements furnished us, 
 some of those have returned from the sea, and 
 been captured in the river as clean fish having 
 remained a much shorter time in the sea than 
 those in our list; but as we have no correct dates 
 
 * These two stations are situated on the Tay, a few miles below 
 Perth. 
 
108 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 of the time of their capture, etc., we are obliged 
 to reject them. It is clear, however, from what 
 we have stated, that at the end of four or five 
 months from the time of their capture by the rod 
 as spawned fish, a number return from the sea to 
 the river as clean fish, having increased 7 Ibs. 
 in weight. 
 
 DO SALMON FALL OFF IN CONDITION ON ENTERING 
 THE FEESH WATER? 
 
 That all fish of the salmon kind that are migra- 
 tory get into worse condition after being some 
 time in fresh water, no one can doubt who is at 
 all acquainted with the habits of the fish; but it is 
 not so much the change of water and food as the 
 state that the fish is in at the time when it seeks 
 the fresh water. We have already shown on the 
 evidence of Mr Ffennell, and from our own ex- 
 perience, that the winter or closetime running 
 fish are in prime condition for the table, if not 
 for the market, after being many months in the 
 fresh water. The fact is, the good edible condi- 
 tion of the fish depends entirely upon the state of 
 the development, and size of the milt or roe in 
 the fish. "When fish are kept from entering the 
 river by a want of a fresh in the water to enable 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPEKIMENT. 109 
 
 them to leave the sea, even there the development 
 of the spawn takes place the same as in the fresh 
 water, and they assume the red colour which they 
 have while on the redds. At that time, they are 
 not fit for food, but, notwithstanding, are eaten as 
 kipper. On referring to Mr Johnstone of Mon- 
 trose's examination,* it will be seen that it was 
 this full development and growth of the milt and 
 roe that led him into the absurdity of believing 
 that salmon spawned in the sea. The clean fish 
 that ascend the Tay in the months of November, 
 December, and January, and are caught in Loch 
 Tay and other feeders, in spring, at the commence- 
 ment of the season, are good and excellent for the 
 table, albeit a little brown in the colour, which 
 may injure them as a marketable fish; but the 
 spawn in these fish, although developed, has not 
 become as yet of any size, and of course the fish 
 has not fallen off much in condition. 
 
 KELTS, OE SPAWNED FISH. 
 
 It is well known to anglers and fishermen that 
 kelts do not immediately after spawning return 
 to the sea. The fish become very weak after 
 the operation; and they afterwards drop down 
 
 * See Appendix. 
 
110 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 from the redds to the first deep and quiet 
 part of the river they can find, where they 
 remain until they have recovered some strength. 
 They then continue dropping down the river, 
 descending from pool to pool, avoiding the rapid 
 running places as much as possible. At this 
 time they feed greedily, and are a great annoy- 
 ance to anglers, during the spring months, as 
 they rise at any sort of fly; and, although not so 
 difficult to land as a strong clean fish, they some- 
 times take more time to land than the angler 
 is willing to spare. Being at this time such 
 voracious feeders, there is no doubt but, like 
 Saturn, they devour their own offspring, for a 
 parr is a good bait for them. This was one of 
 the excuses of the fishermen for . not returning 
 them to the river after being taken in their nets, 
 for, within a few years back, almost all the kelts 
 caught were not returned to the river, and of 
 course large salmon were becoming scarce. Mat- 
 ters now, we are glad to say, are changed, as far 
 as the Tay is concerned, since the passing of the 
 last Act of Parliament, and the result is that the 
 large fish are getting more plentiful. There is no 
 doubt that kelts or spawned fish improve much 
 in condition in the fresh water before they reach 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. Ill 
 
 the sea. In proof of this, we will instance a case 
 which occurred to ourselves last year: On the 
 4th of May, 1861, we hooked a fish on the 
 Stanley water, and, as the fishermen assured us 
 the kelts had all left the river, we were flattering 
 ourselves with the prospect of landing a fresh run 
 salmon. He fought well for liberty, and twice 
 did he make his appearance, and was pronounced 
 clean by the fisherman who had the gaff ex- 
 tended, when his eye caught the glittering cop- 
 per medal attached to the tail. We ordered 
 the gaff to be laid aside, but had to give the 
 fish another run before it could be lifted out 
 without injury. It turned out to be a male fish, 
 and had a copper medal fastened round his tail, 
 on which was stamped Athole, No. 78. He 
 weighed 16 Ibs.; and but from being a little 
 lank at the tail which might have been caused 
 by the copper wire, which had cut the fish 
 nearly into the bone, he might have passed 
 muster for a clean fish (there were no maggots 
 on his gills), as the fishermen thought he was, 
 until we showed them the vent, which was too 
 much enlarged for a fish that had not lately 
 spawned. After having carefully returned him 
 to the river, we noted the number, and apprised 
 
112 NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the Duke of the circumstance, when his Grace 
 was so obliging as to send us the following ac- 
 count of the fish : 
 
 "DUNKELD, May 9, 1861. 
 
 "The Duke of Athole presents his compliments 
 to Mr Brown, and is very much obliged for his 
 civility in forwarding particulars of the capture 
 of a marked fish. The Duke thinks it may 
 interest Mr Brown to learn that the kipper No. 
 78 was caught on the 1st of April by Mr Evans 
 above Logierait. It then weighed 13 \ Ibs." 
 
 We see that salmon do, in certain states, im- 
 prove rapidly in condition in the fresh water. 
 Every one has heard of a well-mended kelt, and 
 not a few of them in the spring are forwarded to 
 the large towns and sold as clean fish, but gene- 
 rally at a lower figure than the clean salmon. 
 They are bought by thrifty housekeepers who 
 must have a salmon dinner like their neighbours 
 at the opening of the fishing, but who are not 
 inclined to give the big price. A well-mended 
 kelt is as clean and silvery-looking as a clean 
 fish, but the head looks large, as the body is not 
 filled up, and upon opening the gill covers, a 
 white-looking maggot may be seen firmly adher- 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 113 
 
 ing to them. The fish when cooked emits a rashy 
 smell, and as an article of food is unwholesome. 
 
 No one on any pretence should be allowed to 
 take spawned fish from the river, but when caught 
 should return them as little injured as possible; and 
 anglers who use the gaff in their capture should 
 be informed upon. Sometimes, however, the 
 hook will wound the gills of the fish, which in 
 every case proves fatal; but these instances 
 are rare, and to enjoy spring fishing without 
 hooking kelts is impossible. The folly of not\ 
 returning them to the river must be evident from 
 the speedy return of at least a number of these 
 fish during the same season, so greatly increased 
 in weight and condition, as has been proved by ; 
 the experiments of the Duke of Athole. 
 
 The efficient protection of our salmon rivers, 
 and a free passage up the stream to the spawning 
 beds cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The 
 present law on this subject in Scotland is insuffi- 
 cient for this purpose, or it is not acted upon. 
 We would instance the river Ericht at Blair- 
 gowrie, which was formerly one of the most famous 
 salmon rivers in the country, but at the present 
 time a salmon is seldom seen in its waters, and all 
 this is owing to mill-dams which have been erected 
 
114 NATUKAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON". 
 
 upon it; some of these are of a height that, even 
 at the greatest floods, salmon find it impossible to 
 surmount. All that is wanted at the dam-dykes 
 is salmon ladders ; but who is to be at the expense 
 of these erections? is the question; and until a 
 bill, similar to the English Fisheries Bill, be ex- 
 tended to Scotland, no remedy will be found for 
 this beautiful little stream, whose waters are also 
 poisoned by chemical mixtures which are dis- 
 charged into it from manufactories on its banks. 
 By obstructing the free passage of the salmon to the 
 spawning grounds, by "the mill-dam, the torch, 
 and the spear," as Colonel Whyte has observed, 
 "the rivers of Halifax, that twenty years ago were 
 teeming with salmon, are now utterly destroyed; 
 and also the rivers of Canada, which at no distant 
 date were swarming with sea-trout and salmon, 
 have fallen so much off, from the same cause, that 
 Government has at length interfered to stay the 
 destruction; and, in not a few instances, recourse 
 has been had to artificial propagation to re-stock 
 some of the rivers." Some theorists affirm that 
 salmon and civilisation cannot exist together, as 
 draining and limeing will, in the long run, destroy 
 the fish in any river along whose banks it is carried 
 on ; but this cannot be the cause of the falling off 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 115 
 
 of the fish in the rivers which empty themselves 
 into the St Lawrence, as the agriculturist has, as 
 yet, scarcely broken ground on its banks. When 
 the redskin possessed the country, although he 
 caught fish at all seasons when he could get them, 
 and by every method known to himself, he sought 
 them only to satisfy the cravings of nature; but 
 when the whiteskin made his appearance on these 
 waters, all the methods known to civilised man 
 were called into requisition to capture the fish as a 
 marketable article; and as there was no law to 
 tell him how or when he was to take salmon, the 
 destruction must have been great. The saw-mills 
 arose, also, with their insurmountable dam-dykes, 
 and prevented the ascent of the geese that were 
 willing to lay more golden eggs ; and in less time 
 than a quarter of a century, these rivers that were 
 swarming with fish had fallen so low that Govern- 
 ment was at last aroused for their protection, since 
 which time salmon have commenced again to 
 multiply hence it is clear that, without protective 
 laws, the genus salmo would soon be extirpated 
 in any populous country. No rivers have suffered 
 for want of protection more than the English 
 rivers, but there is little doubt that not a few of 
 them, if the late Act of Parliament be sufficiently 
 
116 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 carried out, will ere long be again well stocked, 
 although it is our opinion that others will require 
 the assistance of artificial propagation to insure 
 that end. 
 
 ATTEMPT TO EAISE THE SALMON FKOM THE OVA TO 
 THE GKILSE STATE ARTIFICIALLY. 
 
 When none of the smoults which were marked 
 with the silver rings had been caught returning 
 as grilse, we resolved to try if it was possible to 
 rear the salmon from the ova up to the grilse state, 
 under our own eye, by means of a salt-water pond 
 into which the sea ebbed and flowed. We found 
 a pond well fitted for the purpose, which had been 
 made at great expense at Stonehaven, in Kincar- 
 dineshire. This establishment was originally in- 
 tended for the purpose of hatching and rearing 
 the fish from the ova up to the full-grown sal- 
 mon. It consisted of two ponds a fresh-water 
 one, 40 X 20 yards, and a salt water one, 60 X 30 
 yards. The water was taken by a pipe from the 
 Water of Cowie, which flows past the place. 
 Where the pipe conveying the water ended, there 
 was a ditch cut, into which the water flowed, and 
 supplied the fresh water pond. Between the 
 fresh and salt water ponds there was another 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPEKIMENT. 117 
 
 cut for conveying the fresh water into the salt. 
 This last cut had a fall of eight feet. The 
 distance between the ponds is about thirty yards. 
 A strong iron pipe, eighteen inches in diameter, 
 is carried from the salt water pond to the sea 
 the mouth of the pipe is placed in the sea, 
 as far as half- water mark, by which means the 
 water is frequently running in or out. The 
 pond, when the water is at the lowest, is about 
 three feet deep, and is well built with projecting 
 stones along the sides, for shelter to the fish. At 
 high water it has six or eight feet added to 
 its depth. The water at the place where it 
 enters from the sea is as salt as the ocean, 
 but at the sides it is brackish, as a considerable 
 quantity of fresh water filters into it. Some 
 years ago, when this pond was completed, a few 
 pairs of spawning fish were turned into the cut 
 which empties itself into the fresh water pond, 
 and we believe they did spawn, and dropped 
 down into the sea pond; but they were not al- 
 lowed to remain long there, the temptation was 
 too great for the poaching propensities of a set of 
 prowlers that are to be found in all places. We 
 learned from persons on the spot, that the ova 
 hatched, and disappeared likewise. Multitudes of 
 
118 NATURAL HISTOKY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 parrs about two inches long were seen, but as 
 there was nothing to prevent them from descend- 
 ing the stream into the salt water, no doubt the 
 most of them did so and met their fate. The 
 experiment wanted much to insure success, and 
 of course proved a failure. 
 
 In the spring of 1860 we went and examined 
 these ponds, and having anew covered the mouth 
 of the sea pipe with galvanised wire grating 
 sufficiently small to retain a smoult, we selected 
 five smoults which were reared at Stormontfield 
 from salmon ova. One of them was four years 
 old it was three years old before it became a 
 smoult, as mentioned previously, and had only 
 grown, although well fed with boiled liver, to 
 eight inches in length. The four others were 
 two year old smoults from five to six inches in 
 length. With a considerable deal of trouble, by 
 having seven changes of water ready at the 
 stations the distance to be carried by rail being 
 about sixty miles we got the fish safely put into 
 the salt water pond in excellent health. When 
 put in they swam slowly for a few minutes 
 amongst the brackish water at the side, and 
 shortly afterwards they darted into the pure sea 
 water. The pond at this time was swarming 
 
STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 119 
 
 with very small fry of sea fish, (we did not 
 discover what kind of fish they were the fry of,) 
 which came in through the grating with every 
 tide, and we saw abundance of food for the young 
 salmon. We left them under the charge of Mr 
 Gray, the tacksman of the salmon fishings at 
 the mouth of the Cowie, and also the men 
 employed by him, who lived on the spot, and 
 they promised to see that no harm came over 
 them. The fish were put into the pond on the 
 30th of June, and on the 8th of July our cor- 
 respondent writes : " I have the great pleasure to 
 inform you that your fish have been seen in the 
 evening jumping at the flies. I have no doutbt but 
 they are delighted with their new quarters as they 
 have everything that they can desire. The salmon 
 fishers seem to take a great interest in them." 
 
 July 28th. The fishermen reported that they 
 had seen the whole of the fish at the mouth of 
 the pipe their favourite resort. The largest 
 appeared to be about the size of a herring. 
 
 August 5th. The four year old smoult was, 
 reported to have been seen by one of the fisher- 
 men, and that it had the appearance of a sea 
 trout of 1| Ibs. weight, but the rest of the fisher- 
 men said it was not so heavy. 
 
120 NATURAL HISTOEY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 On the 18th of August we went north, and 
 were so fortunate as to see three of the young 
 fish; they had grown double the size. We looked 
 in vain for the large one, but owing to the ripple 
 on the water it was difficult to see any distance 
 from the side. The winter of 1860-61 turned out 
 very severe, and our correspondent's communica- 
 tions were always "fish cannot be seen, owing to 
 the stormy weather." On the 15th of April, our 
 correspondent writes "that I had the good 
 fortune, yesterday morning, to discover one of 
 your lost family, it was lying at the mouth of the 
 pipe, with its head to the stream. I had as good a 
 view of it as I could wish. It appeared to be less 
 than the large one that I saw lying in the same 
 place last summer; but I may state that it would 
 be about double the size and weight of those you 
 saw when here in August last;" so that this fish 
 had increased to the size of a sea-trout of 1 Ib. 
 weight in about ten months. Our next visit was 
 in August, when we were told by the fishermen 
 that they were afraid our fry were all gone, as a 
 notorious poacher had been seen early one morn- 
 ing whipping the pond with his flies, and none 
 of the fish had been observed since. We felt 
 very vexed at the news; but from the unpro- 
 
STOKMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 121 
 
 tected state of the place, and the great temptation 
 there was to persons who live by poaching to 
 make a few shillings by the sale of the fish, we 
 were not at all astonished. The fish had grown 
 marketable, and that they were in the pond was 
 well known to many people in Stonehaven, and 
 this circumstance could not escape the notice of 
 these lawless characters. Had we only been able 
 to get one of them to preserve, so as to show 
 the history of the fish under artificial culture 
 from the ova to the grilse our labour would 
 have been repaid ; but as it turned out, the experi- 
 ment was a failure, as the fruits of it could not 
 be made patent. We learn, however, from it, a 
 fact well known already that the sinoults of the 
 salmon grow much more rapidly in the salt than 
 in the fresh water, and that this is chiefly owing 
 to the abundance and variety of food contained in 
 the former, and, further, that it is possible to 
 rear the fish up to the grilse state artificially. 
 The little river of Cowie, upon which these ponds 
 are situated, belongs to the heirs of the late 
 Alexander Baird, Esq. It was at one time 
 swarming with salmon, but since 1825 there 
 has been a stake-net at its mouth; besides, on 
 looking seaward, the black bladders of bag-nets 
 
122 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 are to be seen bobbing in every direction, which 
 renders it impossible for any fish during open 
 time to ascend the stream. 
 
 Stake and bag-nets, or fixed engines of any 
 kind, for the capture of salmon in the sea 
 dam-dykes, without openings or stairs in them 
 saw-mills, the owners of which are allowed 
 to send their dust into the rivers bleachfields 
 and dyeworks, the most of whose proprietors 
 make no scruple to pour their poisonous chemi- 
 cals into the pure stream direct, so that not a 
 smoult can attempt to pass without being de- 
 stroyed; these are chiefly the causes of the great 
 falling off of the salmon in our rivers. Want of 
 sufficient protection to the spawning fish is an- 
 other cause, without doubt, but this neglect is 
 nothing in comparison to the other evils; the 
 poacher may do much harm, but the first-named 
 evils are the sure methods of destroying the 
 breed altogether. 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT BY THE SELECT 
 COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS ON 
 THE SALMON FISHERIES, 1860. 
 
 First. As to the law affecting salmon fisheries in 
 Scotland. 
 
 By the law of Scotland the right of salmon fishing 
 is inter regalia, and is vested in the sovereign, jure 
 coronce. The salmon is not, however like the whale 
 or sturgeon a royal fish, so as to give the Crown 
 an actual right of property in every salmon that is 
 caught; but the right of the Crown is to the salmon 
 fishings in Scotland, which, as observed in a case that 
 lately came before the House of Lords in its judicial 
 capacity, "appears to be a common and well understood 
 description of the subject of claim." 
 
 Salmon fishings have from a very early period been 
 the subject of grants by the Crown, and the fishings in 
 rivers which yet remain vested in the sovereign are 
 probably not of great extent. 
 
 The grants by the Crown of salmon fishings in the sea 
 are not so numerous as those of fishings in rivers ; and 
 although some grants have been made of fishings in the 
 sea, there appears to be altogether a considerable extent 
 of coast upon which the salmon fishings still belong to 
 the Crown. 
 
124 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 The nature of the title of the Crown to salmon fishings 
 in Scotland being that which has been above described,* 
 and being vested in the Crown not merely as trustee 
 for the public, as has been contended, but as part of its 
 patrimonial estates it is next to be considered how the 
 right to any particular salmon fishing may be acquired 
 by a subject. Such a right may clearly be obtained by 
 an express grant from the Crown ; and it has been stated 
 to the Committee by the Lord Advocate that if there be 
 a title from the Crown cum piscationibus, followed by a 
 possession of salmon fishings by the use of a net and 
 coble, cruive, yair, or other mechanical contrivance, for 
 forty years, a presumptive right to salmon fishings would 
 be acquired, but that rod or spear fishing will not be 
 sufficient to found a presumptive title. It has been 
 proved in evidence that many grants of salmon fishings 
 in the sea, and in estuaries in Scotland, were made by 
 the Crown before the transfer of the management of the 
 Crown property to the Commissioners of Woods, and 
 the list of such grants which was produced to the Com- 
 mittee probably does not contain references to nearly 
 all the grants which have been made, or titles which 
 could be maintained against the Crown. 
 
 The statutory restrictions on the salmon fishings in 
 Scotland, as regards the use of fixed engines, may be 
 considered, first, with reference to rivers above the flow 
 of the tide that is to say, from the source down to the 
 place where the flow and ebb of the tide is perceptible ; 
 secondly, with respect to that portion of rivers which is 
 within the ebb and flow of the tide ; and, lastly, with 
 reference to the sea coast. 
 
 The general statutes by which these restrictions were 
 imposed are very numerous they commence with an Act 
 
 * See Blue Book. 
 
APPENDIX. 125 
 
 of Robert I., 1318, chap. 12. The Committee gather 
 that the effect of these statutes, as regards the use of 
 fixed engines, is shortly as follows : 
 
 1st, Cruives are legal from the source of a river down 
 to the point where the ebb and flow of the tide begins, 
 provided the person using such an engine has an express 
 grant from the Crown of the privilege of fishing in that 
 manner, has exercised that privilege, and observes the 
 regulations of the statutes as to cruives, the principal of 
 which are that they shall be kept open from Saturday 
 till Monday, and that the hecks or bars of the cruive 
 boxes shall not be less than three inches apart. 
 
 2d, Cruives, yairs, and all other fixed engines, are 
 illegal in a river from the point where the flow and ebb 
 of the tide begins, down to the sea. 
 
 3d, Fixed nets are not illegal on the sea-coast, and a 
 person having a grant of salmon fishings on the sea- 
 coast cannot be interdicted under the statutes by another 
 proprietor of salmon fishings, or be prevented by the 
 Crown from using such nets. 
 
 The Tweed and Solway are exempted from these Acts. 
 
 The question as to the extreme limit of a river towards 
 the sea, within which the prohibitions against fixed 
 engines apply, is one which must be determined by a 
 jury in each case as it arises, and a variety of circum- 
 stances would have to be taken into consideration, vary- 
 ing with the locality, so that the result in one case would 
 be but little guide towards a sound conclusion in another. 
 
 With respect to the annual close -time, or period 
 within which it is allowed to take salmon. By an Act of 
 the Scottish Parliament, passed in 1424, it was forbidden 
 that any salmon be slain from the Feast of the Assump- 
 tion of our Lady until the Feast of St Andrew in winter. 
 The dates of these feast days being corrected according 
 
126 v NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 to the new style, the close-time established by the Act of 
 1424 was from the 15th August until the 30th November 
 (N. S.) 
 
 But by the Act 9 Geo. IV., c. 39, 1828, commonly 
 called "The Home Drummond Act," the annual close- 
 time was altered, so as to last from the 14th September 
 until the 1st of February. This Act does not apply to 
 the Solway, or its tributaries, or to the Tweed, and the 
 close-time in the Tay was, by the Tay Fisheries Act of 
 1858, enlarged, so as to commence on the 26th of August 
 and to end on the 1st January, (this is a mistake, it 
 should have been the 31st of January.) With these 
 exceptions, the annual close-time for salmon fishing in 
 Scotland is still regulated by the Act of 1828. 
 
 The Committee, after noticing the evidence generally, 
 state, " After giving their best consideration to the evi- 
 dence submitted to them, the Committee are of opinion 
 that, with a view to the improvement of the salmon 
 fisheries in Scotland, all cruives and fixed engines, of 
 whatever kind, both in rivers and in the sea, should 
 be abolished, and, at all events, no new fixed engines, 
 of any description, should be permitted to be erected," 
 etc. 
 
 James I., 1424, c. 35, (Repealed by George IV., c. 
 39) : " It is ordained by the Parliament, and forbidden 
 by the King, that onie salmound be slaine frae the Feast 
 of the Assumption of our Ladie quhill the Feast of St 
 Andrew in winter, nouther with nettes, nor cruves, nor 
 nane otherwaies, under the paine put upon slayers of 
 red fish, quilk alswa the Justice- Clerk sail gar inquire." 
 
 There are other three Acts of James I. regarding the 
 salmon ; one of James II. ; two of James III. ; three of 
 James IV.; one of James V.; one of Queen Mary; three 
 of James VI. ; one of James VII. ; two of William III. ; 
 
APPENDIX. 127 
 
 and one of Queen Anne. None of these Acts interfered 
 with the annual close -time of James I. * 
 
 Very great care was shown by our ancestors in the 
 protection not only of the salmon but of the fry, for we 
 find in the Act of James VII. , c. 24, May 30th, 1685 
 u Item: That all millers that slay smoults or trouts with 
 creels or any other engine, or any who dams or laves, 
 shall be punishable as slayers of red fish, conform to the 
 (37) Act Parliament, 5, King James III.; and where 
 the transgressors has no means, they are appointed to be 
 put in prison, irons, or stocks, for the space of one 
 moneth, upon their own expenses; and if they have it 
 not of their own, to be fed on bread and water, conform 
 to the 89th Act of Parliament, 6, King James VI.," etc. 
 The steeping of lint in rivers, lochs, or burns, where 
 fishes are, is also forbidden by the same Act. 
 
 EXTRACTS FEOM MINUTES OF EVIDENCE. 
 
 WM. JOSHUA FFENNELL, ESQ., ONE OF THE COMMIS- 
 SIONERS OF FISHERIES IN IRELAND, ON WHAT ARE 
 CALLED BARREN FISH. 
 
 With regard to salmon that enter the river in Decem- 
 ber and January, Mr Ffennell (answer 2538) says 
 They are fish in which the ova is fully developed, 
 but not grown large. (2540) They would spawn in 
 twelve months. (2541) He also says that December 
 and January are the principal spawning months in 
 Scotland. 
 
 2551 I apprehend that all the monster fish are old 
 fish. 
 
 2555 LORD LOVAT: Do the early spawned fish 
 return to the sea and come again? Yes, sooner of 
 
128 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 course than the late fish. With respect to the spawn- 
 ing operations, it appears at first strange that some 
 fish should seek to make the fresh water their habita- 
 tion for the whole of the summer, while other fish 
 remain in the estuaries and the sea until within a few 
 weeks of spawning, and come out of the sea quite ready 
 to spawn. It presents itself to my mind as one of the 
 wonderful arrangements of nature that it is for the 
 purpose of causing the fish to distribute themselves 
 through the whole of the waters. That is their tendency, 
 for we have the fish in summer from the spring going up 
 the rivers, and killing themselves to get over obstacles ; 
 actually jumping at weirs and locks and all sorts of 
 things, while a number of fish remain quiet in the sea, and 
 do not come into the fresh water at all till they are just 
 ready to spawn. We find also that the earliest spawning 
 is almost at the top of the water. I think it is as clear 
 as possible that the object of the law that governs them 
 is, to cause the fish to distribute themselves throughout 
 the whole length and breadth of the water. Some people 
 have thought it extraordinary that there should be these 
 December and January fish we have it before our eyes. 
 I have often taken them myself in the lakes in the fol- 
 lowing summer in all stages of ova in progress of 
 development. We have them under our eyes in rivers. 
 The fish come up in February and March, and we know 
 that they do not spawn till November and December, 
 following, after all, very much the same time before 
 spawning as the December fish that spawn in October. 
 It is about the same time. 
 
 2556 LORD POLWARTH: You think that the fish 
 enter the river in December and remain in the river till 
 October, and then spawn? Yes, no doubt of it. They 
 are the most valuable spawners. 
 
APPENDIX. 129 
 
 2557 VISCOUNT HUTCHINSON: It has been stated to 
 the Committee, as the opinion of one of the witnesses who 
 have been examined, that those earlier fish in the Scottish 
 rivers are barren fish. You do not coincide in that opinion? 
 I can answer for it in Ireland, that they are not barren 
 fish. I have tried many experiments about it. Before 
 we allowed January fishing in the Carra, my colleague, 
 Mr Barry, and I went down, and we caused the cruives 
 to be put down in the river Carra, which is one of the 
 earliest rivers. We assembled the Board of Conservators, 
 the fish brokers, and all the people interested in the river. 
 We had the cruives put down at night on the 23d of 
 November, and in the morning we had seventeen salmon. 
 Fifteen of those salmon were as beautiful marketable 
 fish as could be. There were only two bagots among 
 them. We opened every single fish. We had a post 
 mortem examination on the spot before all these people, 
 and every one of those that were female fish (they were 
 about in equal proportion) had the ova quite developed. 
 Of course it was very small, smaller than mustard seed, 
 The lobe was perfectly formed, and the little seed in it. 
 The milt of the males was in a corresponding state. I 
 have tried them upon many occasions, and there is no 
 doubt about it, that they are not barren. 
 
 2558 LORD POLWARTH: That spawn would have 
 ripened and developed in the fresh water? Quite so. 
 
 2560 EARL DUCIE : You say those fish you caught in 
 November had imperfectly developed ova in them? Per- 
 fectly developed; it was very small. 
 
 2561 Those were the ova which would have been 
 deposited in the succeeding October? Yes; I have seen 
 the salmon taken, and I have caught them myself in the 
 early lakes quite a copper colour ; the ova not very far 
 advanced ; not a good-looking fish to send to market, but 
 a right good fish to eat. 
 
 I 
 
130 NATUKAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 MR FFENNELL ON STOCKING A KIVER. 
 
 2604 CHAIRMAN : A comparatively small number of 
 fish, if allowed to ascend the river and spawn in security, 
 would be sufficient amply to stock the river, would it not? 
 I think not. I think it requires a good stock of fish amply 
 to stock a river, though people have spoken of the many 
 thousands of ova (something like from 11,000 to 17,000) 
 in a large salmon ; but from the very commencement there 
 is a great waste, and I believe one reason why they are 
 provided with such a quantity is to meet this waste. In 
 the first place, there is a great quantity of ova not 
 impregnated that I have proved myself, by taking it up 
 out of the gravel. The greater portion of it was quite 
 opaque, and the milt of the male had not come in contact 
 with it at the right time. There is another large propor- 
 tion of it that the fish fails to cover in the gravel. It is 
 carried away by the stream either into deep water or into 
 muddy places and is lost. Unquestionably, when the 
 little animals come to life, that red bag that is attached 
 to them for three, or four, or five weeks is a great attrac- 
 tion, and the smallest trout eat a quantity of them. All 
 fish live upon each other. Ducks, particularly wild 
 ducks which abound in Ireland destroy a vast quantity 
 of ova. Every spawning bed in the winter is a favourite 
 place to go and watch for wild ducks. You see them 
 with their head under water, with their heels up, rooting 
 the ova out of the spawning beds. Wild ducks feed 
 immensely upon it. Then, when the fry are going down, 
 a great many are devoured, and also when they get to 
 sea. I once saw twenty-six salmon fry taken out of 
 what we call a "black pollock" in Ireland, which is called 
 the coal fish a big fellow weighing 15 or 20 Ibs., that 
 was killed in the Bay of KiUala, outside of Ballina, 
 when the fry were going down : to meet all these things 
 the fish are given a greater multitude of ova. I do not 
 
APPENDIX. 131 
 
 think that a few fish will stock a river. I am quite satis- 
 fied in my mind that it will not. I do not know a river 
 in Ireland that is half-stocked with salmon fully to 
 develop its resources. 
 
 2612 LORD LOVAT: Is spawn hurt by frost? If it 
 is exposed. I do not think that, unless it is quite bare, 
 it is hurt by frost. 
 
 2624 LORD LOVAT : Could you take salmon up 30 or 
 35 feet by means of a ladder? You could, or any height. 
 
 SALMON SPAWNING IN THE SEA MR JOSEPH JOHN- 
 STONE, MONTROSE. 
 
 3439 LORD COLVILLE: Do you think that salmon 
 spawn in the sea? My faith in that has been very much 
 shaken. I have some doubts that they do spawn in the 
 sea. 
 
 3440 You once thought so? I have some doubts now. 
 I did not believe at one time. I begin to think they do. 
 
 3441 LORD STANLEY: Why do you think so? For 
 instance, I am tacksman of a small fishing near the 
 Tweed, that they call Marshall Meadows, within the 
 limits of the Tweed Act. It is on the march between 
 Scotland and England, and after the Act was passed last 
 year, I was very particular at the end of the year to 
 ascertain what fish there were. I had never seen them. 
 At the last day of the fishing I got a great many brown 
 salmon quite full of spawn. 
 
 3442 Do you mean kelts? No; the fish full of spawn, 
 that you would think were ready to spawn; and I 
 ordered them to send them on to Montr^ose, that I might 
 see what they were like. I got some twenty or thirty 
 which were very full of spawn, very brown, and they 
 were fish close to spawning. 
 
 3443 EARL INNES : Are you aware that the Tweed 
 was very dry till the close of the fishing season, and that 
 
132 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 the fish could not get into the river for want of water? 
 I do not know. 
 
 3444 LORD STANLEY: Do you often take brown fish 
 in the sea? I never saw them but there. 
 
 3445 Had they the same colour that fish have that 
 have been a long time in the river? The very same as 
 if they had been lying in the river for two months. 
 
 3446 EARL INNES: On the part of the coast of 
 which you speak is there not a great quantity of sea 
 weed? Yes. 
 
 3447 Do you not think that the colour of those fish 
 was attributable to their lying among the sea weed? 
 I think it has that tendency; at the same time the fish 
 were so very full of spawn. 
 
 3448 Was that at the end of September? It was just 
 the last two or three days of fishing. 
 
 3449 Then, of course, the fish would be full of roe, 
 it is natural to suppose? I never saw them so full in 
 the Tweed before. 
 
 3450 LORD STANLEY : Do not you suppose they were 
 fish waiting for sufficient water to ascend the river? I 
 do not know, or whether they were going to spawn in 
 the sea, that they were in that condition. There is a 
 strong current and a small grave outside in the sea. 
 
 3451 Is the reason which induces yoiv to hesitate 
 in the opinion which you formerly came to, that salmon 
 do not breed in the sea, because at the end of the season 
 last year you took those brown fish which were full of 
 spawn, and therefore you think they spawn in the sea? 
 I would not say positively, but I have a certain amount 
 of belief in it. 
 
 3481 LORD LOVAT: Do you consider that the fish 
 caught in Lunan Bay are Esk fish or Tay fish? I believe 
 they are from both rivers. I believe there is plenty 
 taken that never was in any river. 
 
APPENDIX. 133 
 
 MR JOHN HECTOR, TENANT OF SALMON FISHINGS ON 
 THE SEA, ex adverso CERTAIN LANDS IN KINCARDINE 
 COMMENCED SALMON FISHING IN 1819 OR 1820. 
 
 2754 LORD COLVILLE of Culross : Do you think any 
 salmon spawn in the sea? I think they do. 
 
 2755 Did you ever find one spawning in the sea? No. 
 Judging by the quantity of fish that I have seen in the 
 sea, I should think they could not all go in to the rivers. 
 
 2756 CHAIRMAN: Have you ever found any smoult 
 or salmon fry in the sea? I have. 
 
 2757 LORD COLVILLE : Have you ever found a fish 
 very near spawning in the sea? I have; near the end 
 of the season 
 
 2758 Do you think that those fish that are very full 
 of roe would spawn in the sea if they could not get to 
 the rivers? I cannot say; I have not tested it. My 
 opinion is, that if all the fish came from the sea into 
 the rivers, for the purpose of spawning, the rivers could 
 not contain them. The sea is teeming with fish ; I have 
 seen great numbers in it. 
 
 2759 Do not you think those fish that are full of 
 roe are prevented from going into the rivers, and that 
 is why they are so found full of roe in the sea, that they 
 cannot find their way into the rivers, or are prevented 
 by stake-nets? They are not prepared for spawning till 
 the end of the season. My opinion is, that the fish 
 taken in the summer season are not on their way to the 
 rivers for the purpose of spawning; that is my candid 
 opinion; and we kill a great deal of fish in the sea. 
 I have no hesitation in saying, from my experience in 
 fishing for 40 years, that they would not go to the 
 rivers 
 
 2760 CHAIRMAN : Does it consist with your know- 
 ledge that experiments have been made with a view to 
 the propagation of salmon in salt water, and that those 
 
134 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON, 
 
 experiments have failed, and the ova never have become 
 productive? Both in salt water and fresh water I am 
 afraid it will not succeed; that is my opinion. 
 
 2761 I asked you whether you were aware that ex- 
 periments had been tried to propagate salmon in salt 
 water, and that those experiments have not succeeded, 
 inasmuch as the ova had not produced the young sal- 
 mon? They have not succeeded. 
 
 2762 Are not you aware that those experiments have 
 succeeded frequently in fresh water? In bringing the 
 fish to life they have succeeded. 
 
 2763 Would not that tend to show that it was im- 
 possible that salmon should propagate in salt water? 
 There may be different qualities of fish. There may be 
 sea fish and there may be fresh water fish. 
 
 FOOD OF THE SALMON IN THE SEA PROFESSOR JOHN 
 QUECKETT, COLLEGE OF SURGEONS. 
 
 3641 EARL DUCIE: Is it your belief that a salmon 
 which has been bred in a river travels to any distance 
 from it when he enters the sea? I think salmon travel 
 along the coast, but they endeavour to return to the 
 river where they were bred. 
 
 3642 CHAIRMAN: They usually do so? Yes, as far 
 as I can make out. They travel some considerable dis- 
 tance into the deep water, and into the sea, for their 
 food, which is, I believe, essentially the ova of the 
 echinus or sea-urchin. That is what I have always 
 traced in their stomachs, and I know, from the locality 
 in which those sea-urchins are found, that the salmon 
 must go into deep water, some considerable distance 
 from the shore, to get them. 
 
 3643 At what depth does the echinus, upon the 
 ova of which the salmon feed, live in the sea? They 
 live in from six to twenty fathoms. 
 
APPENDIX, 135 
 
 PROFESSOR T. H. HUXLEY, AT THE GOVERNMENT 
 SCHOOL OF MINES. 
 
 3733 EARL DUCIE: Do you know what the habits 
 of the salmon are in the sea upon what he lives? There 
 is much reason to believe that those animals live chiefly 
 upon entomostracous crustacese, which are found in the 
 sea in very great abundance. I believe that is one 
 reason of the great increase of size which the salmon 
 attain in the sea ; because in the rivers the only food of 
 this kind they can obtain consists of insects and insects' 
 larvae, which are comparatively few; but directly they 
 come to the sea there are great patches of water where 
 crustacese are found in abundance. 
 
 3734 In fact, they swim in a species of animal soup? 
 Yes. 
 
 3735 EARL CAWDOR : Are those crustacese found in 
 deep water? Yes, it would be quite possible for the 
 salmon to obtain such food there. 
 
 3736 EARL DUCIE : What depth are the crustacese in 
 the water? They are at the surface in deep water. Very 
 often you find the surface completely thick with them. 
 
 3737 One of the witnesses has stated it as his belief 
 that the principal food of the salmon is the ova of the 
 echinidse? I doubt that very much. I do not know 
 how the salmon are to get them to begin with. If you 
 examine the surface of the sea, you find the embryos 
 of echinodernus mixed up with other things, and there 
 is a far greater multitude of minute crustacese and mol- 
 luscs. The salmon can only open his mouth and take 
 what comes into it; he cannot separate them. You do 
 not get the ova or embryos of the echinidse in distinct 
 patches by themselves. 
 
 3738 Those ova are not deposited at the bottom of the 
 sea? No ; the ova are very rapidly hatched, and as soon 
 as they are laid they become fry or swimming embryos. 
 
136 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE SALMON. 
 
 3739" Are they ovoviviparous? Hardly that ; but still 
 the eggs are hatched very rapidly. 
 
 3740 Do the salmon feed upon the embryo? I should 
 imagine they must do so to a certain extent. A salmon 
 can only feed upon these small creatures by opening his . 
 mouth and taking what comes into it. Those who have' 
 examined *he stomachs of salmon fresh from the sea, 
 affirm that they contain great multitudes of minute 
 crustacese. 
 
 31&1 There is nothing in the nature of the food of 
 salmon to confine them to the immediate vicinity of the 
 shore? I should say not, so far as I am aware. 
 
 3742 EARL CAWDOR: Do these crustacese deposit 
 their ova at the bottom of the sea? It is those crus- 
 tacese themselves which are the prey of the salmon, and 
 not the ova. They are very minute animals, and very 
 abundant; and the most of them carry their eggs about 
 with them. 
 
 3743 Are the ova of the echinidse deposited upon the 
 bottom of the sea? They may be so deposited for a 
 short .time; we have no positive evidence that salmon 
 feed particularly upon them, but we know that they 
 feed upon these entomostracse or small crustaceae. 
 
 3744 LORD LOVAT : Is a foul salmon long in getting 
 clean after he gets into the sea? I am not aware; I 
 think it would be very difficult to ascertain that point 
 in any way.* 
 
 * See the Duke of Athole's Experiment. 
 
 GLASGOW : PRINTED BY THOMAS MURRAY AND SON. 
 

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