24 



ON THE CLOSE SEASON, OR THE TIMES NLCESSARY 

 TO PUT THE RIVERS IN DEFENCE. 



I have already briefly observed, that the season 

 for taking salmon ought to be the six summer 

 months, commencing with April and ending with 

 September; that they do not make a very fre- 

 quent appearance in our rivers early in the year, 

 and that therefore new fish are then always scarce 

 and dear. The reason is evident : — the old fish 

 are either at that time destroyed in the mill-leats; 

 shut up in the rivers unfit to be taken and not 

 eatable ; or they are in the sea, or on the coasts, 

 and have not returned to the rivers in a purified 

 and wholesome condition. In April, after having 

 had the advantage of feeding in the sea, they be- 

 gin to be rich and fat, and return to the rivers. 

 They so continue the whole summer, increasing 

 as it advances, rising with the flow of the tide, and 

 particularly attracted with the freshets after heavy 

 rains. This is the time, namely the six summer 

 months, and the only time that they should be 

 caught, and then only with j:he legal net. If pro- 

 perly protected in the other six months, they 

 would then be so abundant as to be sufficient for 

 every one, for every place, and for every purpose ; 

 the superfluity of the summer would furnish, in a 



