Protecting River-Sides. 415 



water is more liable to make an inroad. Heather or spruce branches 

 do very well to put behind the piles, and with alder wood for pile.'?, 

 the work will, if properly done, stand a lifetime, and resist a consider- 

 able force of water. I may say that we piled a portion of the same river 

 last summer, and after being thoroughly finished in the way described 

 many of the piles are now sending out young growths. Tree roots, 

 I am afraid, under any circumstances would never stand ; besides, they 

 would greatly interfere with the angler ; and as for causewaying those 

 banks with stones, the cost would far exceed the profit. No doubt slips 

 of willow or poplar are the best things for keeping the banks of rivers 

 intact, provided they be attended to ; but as this is a fishing river no 

 such thing can be allowed. 



It is no uncommon thing during winter to see this river frozen back 

 for a mile from a point where it enters the woods between perpen- 

 dicular rocks, where it is spanned by an arch, the height of which is 

 said to be 'oh ft. from the parapet wall to the water. The river is 

 a little sluggish here in its flow, and the ice gets jammed between 

 the rocks, thereby damming the whole flood back till it is sometimes 

 one frozen mass for a mile above. After the freshets the ice comes 

 sweeping down, cutting the banks like a knife in many places. 

 But piling as already described is, 1 find, the best way of resisting 

 the force of either ice or volume of water. No given slope can be 

 laid down, as in many places none can be got, but, where practicable, 

 we begin at the water's edge, and carry the slope well back, 

 finishing with a smooth surface to prevent the water getting hold, 

 and allowing it to run smoothly along. 



Ancoha Imparo. 



