26 FISHERIES, LIKE FARMS, WILL FLOURISH. 



taking a trout at that time there is neither art nor science, 

 the fish being still so weak from spawning for large fish 

 spawn very late that it has not the power to contend 

 against the rod and line, which it would have had in June. 



Here again, in this improper taking of trout out of sea- 

 son, the want of a proper system of protection is forcibly 

 felt ; and this same shield of protection is wanting as well 

 for all other fresh-water fish : for were the artificial princi- 

 ple and protective arrangement extended to them, their in- 

 crease would be enormous. In the stream which I have 

 laid down and attended to, for example, even roach grow 

 to the great weight of from one and a half to two pounds in 

 their fourth season ; and this weight is, I believe, unpre- 

 cedented elsewhere. This shows at once what protection 

 and management will do for fisheries ; and that fisheries, 

 like farms, when looked to systematically, will flourish, 

 and, when neglected, fail. 



Having, I hope, however hastily and cursorily, shown 

 some of the private advantages of artificial spawning and 

 protection of every species of fish, I will next draw the at- 

 tention of my readers to the public advantages which would 

 accrue if the same attention were paid to all the rivers in 

 the United Kingdom ; for if my data be looked into, and 

 if they are they will bear investigation, and my system car- 

 ried out by owners of fisheries, we might well calculate 

 upon a greatly-augmented increase of employment, a new 



