=Salmon.=--The salmon is one of the most important food fishes of the United States. It belongs to the genus _Oncorhynchus_. The five species of this genus are, in America, confined to our Pacific coast. Of these species the one known as blueback or sockeye is found most abundantly in the Fraser and Columbia rivers and in Alaska, the silver salmon in Puget Sound, the chinook salmon in the Columbia, and the dog salmon along the coast from California to Bering Sea. The salmon begin running early in the spring and the early run is considered of greater value than the later. The habits of the salmon in the deep waters of the ocean are not very well known. It is only when they come into fresh water for spawning purposes that their life history can be well studied. It is believed, however, that they do not go very far from the shore. The run of salmon on the Pacific coast usually begins about the latter part of March and lasts through the spring and greater part of the summer. On account of the great abundance of these fish on the Pacific coast and the distance from large markets the canning industry has developed with great rapidity. In fact on the Pacific coast the product of salmon fishing is devoted almost exclusively to canning purposes. In the canning of salmon no particular care is taken, and perhaps none at all to designate upon the can whether its contents are of the early salmon or the later, less valuable run. It is claimed by many authorities that the salmon of the Pacific coast of America, taken all together in their relation to the economic problem of fish food, are the most important and valuable fish in the world. _Composition of a Pacific Coast Species._-- FRESH. DRY. Water, 63.61 percent Protein, 17.46 „ 52.31 percent Fat, 17.87 „ 49.05 „ Ash, 1.06 „ 2.92 „ _Composition of Atlantic Salmon._-- FRESH. DRY. Water, 63.61 percent Protein, 21.60 „ 61.45 percent Fat, 13.38 „ 36.88 „ Ash, 1.41 „ 3.81 „ The above data show that the Pacific salmon are richer in fat than the Atlantic salmon. In fact in the edible portion of the fish the fat is almost as great as the protein.