with certainty, but they must be obtained from the ordinary salmon
fisheries in June and held in durance until October or November, and
the possibility of confining them without interfering seriously with
the normal action of their reproductive functions was not yet
established. The latter plan was finally adopted, and in 1871 the first
attempt at this method of breeding salmon was instituted by the
commissioners' of Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The site fixed
upon for an inclosure was at Craig's Pond Brook in the town of Orland,
and arrangements for a supply of fish were made with two fishermen of
Verona at the very mouth of the river. The salmon first brought were
confined in a newly constructed artificial pond in the brook, which was
of such remarkable purity that a small coin could be distinctly seen at
the depth of 7 feet. All of these died except a few which after a short
stay were removed to other quarters. The most prominent symptom was the
appearance of a white fungoid growth in patches upon the exterior of
the fish. In a lake (locally designated as Craig's Pond) of equal
purity, but greater depth, several of these diseased fish recovered.

Of the salmon later obtained some were placed in an inclosure of nets
in the edge of a natural pond with but 7 feet of water, of average
purity, some in a shallow inclosure in a brook, and some turned loose
in a natural lake of some 60 acres area, with muddy bottom and
peat-colored water. In each case the salmon passed the summer with few
losses, arrived at the breeding season in perfect health, and yielded
at the proper time their normal amount of healthy spawn and milt,
though the great sacrifice of breeding fish by the early experiments of
the season reduced the crop of eggs to the small number of 72,000.

The conditions of success were thus sufficiently indicated, and in 1872
the same parties, joined with the United States Commission of