INTRODUCTORY. 3 



his work. Unlike the farmer, experiments in fattening 

 and jiiclicioiis attempts at crossing form no part of his 

 occupation ; no gigantic turbot has yet brought a gold 

 medal to the breeder, nor has a fresh Lochfyne herring 

 or a Torbay sole received even " honourable mention " 

 from any other body than the consuming public. The 

 fisherman is in fact a professional sportsman, and his 

 business is to entrap or entice into his hands the various 

 kinds of fish which are likely to bring him the best 

 return. But to do this effectually requires a long 

 apprenticeship and continual observation in the wide 

 field of Nature ; the habits and migrations of fish should 

 be studied, the influence of weather considered, and the 

 nature of their food and the ground frequented by 

 many fish at the several seasons of the year should be 

 accurately noted and as carefully remembered. A know- 

 ledge of such matters is, however, more frequently the 

 result of accident than of systematic inquiry ; and we 

 do not generally find much evidence of intelligent 

 observation on some points with which it might be 

 supposed every fisherman would strive to become 

 acquainted. We naturally turn to the fishermen for 

 information about the spawning habits of the different 

 fishes they are year after year in the habit of catching ; 

 yet on this important subject it is difficult to obtain a 

 concurrent opinion from the fishermen of adjoining 

 stations, or even from those dwelling in the same 

 village and working for years over the same ground. 

 The food of fishes is another subject on which much 

 might be learned if the fishermen were disposed to 

 take a little more trouble for their own advantage. 

 An examination of the contents of the stomachs of the 

 fish when just caught would very probably lead to the use 

 of a greater variety of bait than is now put on the 



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