ot basin, was obstructed by a dam in the spawning
region. The dam was impassable to fish in July, and had been so during
the previous months. In a deep pool below the dam, which was reported
to be a favorite resort for salmon each season, no salmon were found.
In other words, if the salmon had reached this stream they could not
have gotten above the dam, and would undoubtedly have congregated in
the pool mentioned and been noticed, but no fish had ascended even that
far.

Extension of salmon-hatching operations on the Penobscot.

The establishment of branch hatcheries has been suggested in order to
utilize the spawning salmon in the region which lies above commercial
fishing, and thus increase by artificial means the production of young
fish. It is well known that even under the best conditions now
prevailing in our streams the eggs of anadromous fishes like the salmon
and shad are liable to numerous destructive agencies; that only a small
percentage of the eggs laid under natural surroundings ever hatch, and
that the young are subject to heavy mortality up to the time when they
leave the river and enter the salt water. Probably 5 per cent would
be much too large an estimate of the number of salmon eggs which in a
state of nature produce fish that reach the ocean. Fish-culture, on
the other hand, hatches 95 per cent of the eggs and raises 75 per cent
of the fry to the age of yearlings. Of 206,350 Atlantic salmon eggs
obtained in 1895 at the government station at Craig Brook, 206,109
were hatched and 151,761 yearling fish were liberated in the fall.
The percentage of eggs hatched was thus 99.88 and the percentage of
yearlings raised was 78.39. This is sufficient ground for interfering
with the salmon even after they have reached their spawning-beds, and
justifies the establishment of hatcheries in the headwaters of the
Penobscot, provided the supply of fish in any section is large enough
to insure a reasonable take of eggs.

No examinations of the upper tributaries of the Penobscot thus far made
have disclosed the existence of any stream on which the construction of
a branch salmon hatchery is warranted, owing to the few salmon
obtainable. The matter deserves further investigation, however, and
will receive due consideration at an early date. It is thought that a
satisfactory supply of fish may be secured by constructing a dam or
rack which will intercept fish in the main stream and lead practically
the entire