In regard to the diminution of the number of salmon on the coast. In Puget's Sound, Frazer's River, and the smaller streams, there appears to be little or no evidence of this. In the Columbia River the evidence appears somewhat conflicting; the catch during the present year (1880) has been considerably greater than ever before (nearly 540,000 cases of 48 lb. each having been packed), although the fishing for three or four years has been very extensive. On the other hand, the high water of the present spring has undoubtedly caused many fish to become spring salmon which would otherwise have run in the fall. Moreover, it is urged that a few years ago, when the number caught was about half as great as now, the amount of netting used was perhaps one-eighth as much. With a comparatively small outfit the canners caught half the fish, now with nets much larger and more numerous, they catch them all, scarcely any escaping during the fishing season (April 1 to August 1). Whether an actual reduction in the number of fish running can be proven or not, there can be no question that the present rate of destruction of the salmon will deplete the river before many years. A considerable number of quinnat salmon run in August and September, and some stragglers even later; these now are all which keep up the supply of fish in the river. The non-molestation of this fall run, therefore, does something to atone for the almost total destruction of the spring run. This, however, is insufficient. A well-ordered salmon hatchery is the only means by which the destruction of the salmon in the river can be prevented. This hatchery should be under the control of Oregon and Washington, and should be supported by a tax levied on the canned fish. It should be placed on a stream where the quinnat salmon actually come to spawn. It has been questioned whether the present hatchery on the Clackamas River actually receives the quinnat salmon in any numbers. It is asserted, in fact, that the eggs of the silver salmon and dog salmon, with scattering quinnat, are hatched there. We have no exact information as to the truth of these reports, but the matter should be taken into serious consideration. On the Sacramento there is no doubt of the reduction of the number of salmon; this is doubtless mainly attributable to over-fishing, but in part it may be due to the destruction of spawning beds by mining operations and other causes.