“ In Fraser River the fall run of the quinnat is nearly worthless for canning purposes, because so many are ‘white-meated.’ In the spring very few are ‘white-meated,’ but the number increases toward fall, when there is every variation, some having red streaks running through them, others being red toward the head and pale toward the tail. The red and pale ones cannot be distinguished externally, and the color is dependent upon neither age nor sex. There is not much difference in the taste, but there is no market for pale-fleshed salmon. ”

“ The blueback, a little inferior in flesh, much smaller and far more abundant when Alaska is considered, is worth more than the combined value of the three remaining species of salmon. The pack of blueback salmon for 1903 is valued at $8,000,000, the catch of the quinnat at nearly $4,000,000.
The fall salmon of all species, but especially of the dog, ascend streams but a short distance before spawning. They seem to be in great anxiety to find fresh water, and many of them work their way up little brooks only a few inches deep, where they perish miserably, floundering about on the stones. ”

“ As the spawning season approaches the female loses her silvery color, becomes more slimy, the scales on the back partly sink into the skin, and the flesh changes from salmon-red, and becomes variously paler from the loss of oil, the degree of paleness varying much with individuals and with inhabitants of different rivers. In the Sacramento the flesh of the quinnat, in either spring or fall, is rarely pale. In the Columbia a few with pale flesh are sometimes taken in spring, and a good many in the fall. ”

“ In the fall all males, of whatever species, are more or less distorted.
As already stated, the economic value of any species depends in great part on its being a ‘spring salmon.’ It is not generally possible to capture salmon of any species in large numbers until they approach the rivers, and the spring salmon enter the rivers long before the growth of the organs of reproduction has reduced the richness of the flesh. The fall salmon cannot be taken in quantity until their flesh has deteriorated ”

“ After spawning, the salmon are very lean and unwholesome, in appearance, as in fact, and are then known as ‘kelts.’ The Atlantic salmon does not ascend rivers to any such distances as those traversed by the quinnat and the blue-back; its kelts for the most part survive the act of spawning. As a food-fish, the Atlantic salmon is similar to the quinnat salmon, although rather less oily. The average weight of the adult is probably less than 15 pounds. ”

“ It has been often stated and generally believed that the salmon receive many injuries by striking against rocks and in other ways while en route to their spawning grounds, and as a result from these injuries, those which go long distances from the sea die after once spawning. An examination of many salmon at the time of arrival on their spawning beds in central Idaho showed most fishes to be entirely without mutilations of any kind, and apparently in excellent condition. ”

“ The salmon of the Pacific diverge considerably from the Atlantic salmon, and still more from the forms called ‘trout.’ The six known species of these fishes are placed in a distinct genus, Oncorhynchus, which agrees with Salmo in general characters, and in the structure of its vomer, but differs anatomically in the increased number of anal rays, branchiostegals, pyloric cæca, and gill-rakers. The species of Oncorhynchus differ, further, in their highly specialized reproductive instincts, all individuals, male and female, dying after spawning. ”

“ The silver salmon, with the same breeding habits as the dog salmon, is more valuable, as it is found in the inland waters of Puget Sound for a considerable time before the fall rains cause the fall runs, and it may be taken in large numbers with seines before the season for entering the rivers. The quinnat or Chinook salmon, from its great size and abundance, is more valuable than all the other fishes on our Pacific coast outside of Alaska taken together. ”

“ As they go farther and farther up-stream they swim rather more rapidly. Those that enter the river first are the ones which will go farthest toward the headwaters, many of them going to spawning beds in the Salmon River in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho, more than 1000 miles from the sea. In the Yukon the quinnat ascends to Caribou Crossing, 2250 miles from the sea. ”

“ It is the only black-spotted salmonoid found on the Atlantic seaboard of America. (For illustration, see Colored Plate of American Food Fishes, accompanying article Fish as Food.) In Europe, where black-spotted trout (Salmo fario) and salmon trout (Salmo trutta) also occur, the true salmon may be distinguished by the fact that the teeth on the shaft of the vomer mostly disappear with age. From the only other species (Salmo trutta) positively known which shares this character, the salmon may be known by the presence of but 11 scales between the adipose fin and the lateral line. ”

“ Observations made at various places indicate that whatever the spawning beds may be, spawning will not begin until the temperature of the water has fallen to 54° F. If the fish reach the spawning grounds when the temperature is above 54°, they wait until the water cools down to the required degree. The spawning act extends over several days. ”

“ Some of the species, especially the larger ones, are marine and anadromous, living and growing in the sea, and ascending fresh waters to spawn. Still others live in running brooks, entering lakes or the sea when occasion serves, but not habitually doing so. ”

“ They are not in any way due to the action of fresh water. They take place at about the same time in the adult males of all species, whether in the ocean or in the rivers. At the time of the spring runs all are symmetrical. ”

“ Ventral fins nearly median in position. Pectoral fins inserted low. Lateral line present. Outline of belly rounded. Vertebræ in large number, usually about 60. Skeleton not strongly ossified. The stomach in all the Salmonidæ is siphonal, and at the pylorus are many (15 to 200) comparatively large pyloric cæca. The air-bladder is large. The eggs are usually much larger than in fishes generally, and the ovaries are without special duct, the ova falling into the cavity of the abdomen before exclusion. ”