82 THE FISHERIES. 



become merely a sort of clocking-hen, to hatch fish, 

 for other folk below him to catch and eat ; in Scotland, 

 where many of the rivers, from their sources to the 

 sea, are held as fiefs, or in France, where the sub- 

 ject is now taken up by the Government, such re- 

 searches, possibly, may be best prosecuted. 



Nevertheless, we shall not hesitate to offer our 

 opinions and suggestions, as to the direction in which 

 success may be hoped for ; in an inquiring age like 

 the present, and in the face of some very successful 

 experiments, the pubUc is not likely to rest satisfied 

 with the gradual decline of the Salmon-fisheries, 

 concurrently with the knowledge of the fact, that 

 from a single pair of salmon, some thousands of their 

 young can be produced in a single season, either by 

 artificial means in rills, or enclosed streams ; or by 

 the natural process in the river, in the spawning-beds 

 selected by the salmon themselves. 



With respect to indigenous river fish, and particu- 

 larly river trout, there is no obstacle whatever to a 

 similar success in our rivers, with that which has at- 

 tended the French methods, in breeding them to an 

 almost unlimited extent: with lobsters and other 

 crustacese, which inhabit the sea, the project is also 

 perfectly feasible ; as regards oysters, we know that 

 we can multiply them in artificial beds almost to any 

 extent, and under the existing Fishery Acts a large 

 extension of the oyster fisheries has already actually 

 taken place, and there is ample field, by proper 

 means, for a still further extension of them. 



