than we would get by the natural process, under present circumstances,
in ten years.

FRANK TODD.


* * * * * *


SAINT STEPHEN, N. B., DOMINION OF CANADA.

Prof. SPENCER F. BAIRD, U. S. Commissioner Fish and Fisheries:

SIR: I think it has been clearly demonstrated in this Dominion that by
artificial propagation and a fair amount of protection, all natural
salmon rivers may be kept thoroughly stocked with this fish, and rivers
that have been depleted, through any cause, brought back to their former
excellence.

I would instance the river Restigouche in support of the above
statement.

This river, which empties into the Bay of Chaleur, is now, and always
has been, the foremost salmon river in New Brunswick, both as to size
and number of fish. It has not a dam or obstruction to the free passage
of fish from its mouth to its source, yet up to 1868 and 1869 the
numbers of salmon had constantly decreased. This, no doubt, was
occasioned by excessive netting at the mouth, and spearing the fish
during the summer in the pools; natural production was not able to keep
up with this waste.