The Portland daily press., 1886-11-05

season, which lasts some two months. TWEEN
ty-nye nsh might be taken and 100000 eggs
obtained. Already 296 fish are In captivity,
| ana " Is expected that 400 in all viii DO
taken, and 100000 eggs obtained. The nsb
already captured are fine specimens. One OF
| them weighs n pounds, and the average OF
the 290 Is over 10 pounds, and thus II viii be
seen tnat there is almost a ton and u hal1 OI
live salmon In the pond and cars Inc
salmon az strongly resemble the best spee.-
mems OF the Pen0bscot river, and Mr.. still
| well says the most marked difference Is that
| the SebagO salmon are thicker The char
aeterlstic OF the Penobseot salmon Is that they
are round and generally Of good length. Inc
| H-pounder taken at Crooked river Is a splen.
did specimen Of the king Of fish. and would
| be splendid subject for a painting. He -
70 De photographed before he Is gwen MS
noery. Recently y salmon ran INTO the
weir IN tWenty-f0ur hours.
Prof. Baird obtained $4,000 eggs here at
| an expense OF $500. The 1,00O,OOO eggs
which II Is expected will be taken this sea-
| son, will not cost over 81 per thousand. IL
| will be remembered the first eggs bought BY
/ Maine cost $40 per thOusond. This Is 70.
| markably fine showing for the excellent
management Of our Somsn,Ssio91eIsp hnSs o1 p HART
man, Of Orland, a very efncient man, VINO Is
assisted by his son r. A., and Dy charles
| Floyd. When the work here Is nnisned the
| salmon will all be taken TO Sebago Lake, and
| seek the head waters Of the Crooked river.
| The people in this vicinity were at first very
hostile 70 the undertaking, and threats were
| watch Is kept, and thus far no trouble has
/ been experienced. Some pOaching has been
| done on the river below the weir, and few
nights ago, q boat, In which was yiilainous
looking spear, large enough 10 kill a whale.
| was captured. But the people begin TO see
| tnat this work Is for their own benefit and
look with more favor upon 1t.
AT THE HATcHNG HOUSE.
The Matching house has several long, mar
row tanks, through which running water
from stream IS continually passfag Into
these tanks the eggs are placed. on trays
The water Is kept at the natural tempera-
ture, and Is sometimes as low as 80 degrees.
but Is not allowed TO freeze. The tubes
which carry the water from the stream into
the tanks are protected with wire screens.
Tor should an eel happen TO get into the
tanks u would be good day TO the salmon
eggs. The eggs are examined daily TO see
that none Of them are injured. About the
first Of January, pair Of eyes are seen, the
hsh begins to assume form, and By the first
Of March the perfect formation Of the fish
Is seen. BY the 18th Of March, the young
salmon Is sprightly, and then IL Is necessary
W iced him. The Try, or young salmon, are
now taken In huge cans Of water, and tran
sported to different points 10 restock lakes
and rivers. This year, the entire product Of
this Matching house win be put into Lake
Sebag0.
IN GENERAL.
During the past season the Fish Comnis-
sl0ners have placed In the Kennebec, An
droscoggin and Pen0bsc0t rivers and tributa-
ries, 100000 sea salmon; In MOosehead and
other lakes In the State, $4,000 land-lOeked
salmon; and 100000 into the st. Croix river.
These last were placed jointly by Maine and
New Brunswick, a province whose people
know the benefit Of protecting fish and game.
and Of restocking its lakes and rivers The
best OF feeling exists between Maine and
New Brunswick on this question, and they
/ will continue jointly TO work for the accom-
/ pllshment of still greater results.
The people Of New Brunswick are much
| more advanced In this matter Of protection
20 lsh and game than In many Of the States
OF the Union. As a matter Of fact no State
has as yet taken the advanced steps In this
direction which Maine has. Massachusetts
pays small sum, very small, 10 help TO sus-
tam the salmon hatchery at Grand Lake In
TINS state. but II only amounts 10 a drop In
the bucket to what that State ought to ex-
pend. Our own State should continue 10 do
more from year 10 year. The coming winter
the legislature should appropriate at least
$4,000, and this sum could be wisely ex-
pended In the building Of fish ways, in
Matching eggs Of salmon and other fish, and
In many directions. Our legislature, on q
/ view, and there Is not much doubt but that
i they viii adopt liberal policy. Once In
awhile man Is found, like the old fellow
near Bangor. who wanted the close time on
because, he said, the fish had become so plenti-
ful that when his meadows were OverfiOwed
by the spring freshets the fish ate the roots
OF his grass, and destroyed the prospects Of
hay crop. He said that he should sue the
State Tor damages, A man visited the camp
az Edes lew days ago and was accOmpan-
led by his little boy. He bemOaned his fate
because he was prevented from spearing
salmon. A gentleman said to him that II 4
| wholesale destruction of salmon was allowed
that his little boy and the rest Of the rising
/ generation would have no salmon. as they
would be extinct. His reply was that he
didn't care continental for the rising gem
/ eration; that 1t was for his own qualification
| for which he lived. Fortunately there are
| comparatively few who allow selfshness to
| be paramount to the public welfare There
| are no such lakes. ponds and rivers, no
such grounds for hunting In the world, as
| there are In Maine today, Is the opinion OF
/ a gentleman well qualified to Judge
| The revenue from this source is enormous,
| as the sportsmen from other States now visit
this state in large numbers. IL Is said that
| the eighty salmon caught by fly fishing at
| the dam at Bangor last season, were the
/ means Of bringing people to that city who
/ expended at least 5000.
Referring now more particularly toSebago.
1t Is for the interest Of the people in all the
towns about that sheet Of water and its trlb-
utaries; 1t Is for the interest Of the city OF
Portland, OF the people Of all Western
Maine 10 aid the Commissioners In the work
which has been begun In restocking the lake
with salmon. In few years. IL would be
the finest salmon fishing ground In the
world, and would attract visitors from all
parts of the country, and thus be a means OF
adding to the wealth Of the State.
Public opinion In favor OF protective hsh
and game laws, Is now greatly In advance Of
| what II was only a few years ago, and the
| majority Of our citizens now believe In iv-
| ing our faithful Commissioners more assi lat
ance, so as TO encourage them In their work.