Part 17 (1/2)

”They are,” was the quick response; ”by far the larger nu as a certain proportion go up the streareat harht, as happens when nets are put all the way across a stream, there will be none to spawn, and in a few years there will be no fish in that river”

”Do the fish always return, when grown up, to the river in which they spawned?”

”That is disputed But the large proportion of such fish do not travel very far from the mouth of the river in which they were born and the natural i-time leads them naturally to the nearest streao up-stream, or in other words, that salmon-catchers allow a certain proportion to escape their wheels and nets”

”They ought to be willing enough to do that, I should think,” said Colin; ”it's for their own good in the long run”

”A lot of theard for the future,” his host said scornfully ”Of course, there are laws for fishery regulation in many of the States, but inspectors have their hands full in preventing violations In Alaska, which is a territory still, that supervision is done by the governh the Bureau of Fisheries”

”Itto the salhtfully, ”when they are trying to keep their canning factories going full blast, to have to allow half the catch to go on up the strea down the streaain? I should think that would settle the whole question”

”It would,” said the professor, ”if they cale saloes up the river in the spawning season dies up there None of them ever comes down alive”

”I don't think they did that way in Newfoundland!” ejaculated Colin in surprise ”When I was staying with my uncle there I saw lots of salain”

”They did,” was the reply ”The Atlantic or true salle fish of any one of the five different kinds of Pacific salmon ever spawns twice Every yard of the shores of the upper reaches of Pacific coast rivers is covered almost solidly with dead salmon from September to December!”

”Hoful!”

”It makes some places uninhabitable,” the professor replied ”Where a h, the dead fish are collected and sold for fertilizer”

”Is it the fresh water that kills them?”

”No,” was the reply; ”that is one of the most curious features of the life-history of the Pacific sal, all their digestive parts shrivel up, so that they can't eat In the male salmon, too, the end of the upper lip turns into a sort of hook so that the fish can't even open hisThen in the fresh water their scales turn sli to leap falls and rapids, all sorts of skin diseases attack them A salmon in the upper reaches of the Colunificent fish that entered it to spawn”

”Do they go far?”

”As much as a thousand miles,” was the reply ”The quinnat and blue back--or the spring and the sockeye, as they are generally known, take the long journeys, but the silver or coho, and the hu sal fry cannot live in salt water and the instinct of the salmon is to swim up-stream as far as possible, no one to the very liravel and sand at the bottos in these The male salmon immediately afterwards floats over the nests and does his share inare the salmon?” asked the boy

”You'll have a chance to see,” the professor answered, as he swung the canoe in to the wharf, at the state hatchery station, ”because we're going to ”

The fore for the behind which was a curious-looking affair co slats

”Don't you knohat that is?” queried the professor, noting Colin's puzzled look

”No, sir”

”That's a live car The barrels at each end have enough water in them to sink them to a certain depth Then the slats, as you see, are nailed two-thirds of the way around the barrels, leaving just enough space for the water to flow in and out freely They put the fish in that to tow the because soet hurt”

The run to the fish-trap was made in a few minutes, and the boat went inside to the 'pound,' the net was partly hauled up, and the professor took out his punch and the buttons Colin had put on a pair of rubber boots and oilskin trousers, as had all the rest of the party, and he was ready for anything that ca

”Do you want et splashed”