26 An Angler's Paradise. 



^pawning beds, which will be described in my chapter on the 

 construction of fish ponds, they will do well. For a pond near a 

 house they do admirably, and are excellent eating when well fed 

 in suitable waters. No river in this country has ever yet been 

 stocked with them. The turning in of a few thousand fry is not 

 stocking a river. Until 250,000 eyed ova have been planted for 

 three consecutive seasons, we have no right to pronounce the 

 stocking of British rivers a failure. Two years ago, I offered to 

 bear half the cost of the experiment on certain conditions, in the 

 hope that some large proprietor would come forward and join in 

 it, but the offer was not accepted. Until something of this kind 

 has been done, it is premature to condemn the fish as useless for 

 our rivers. 



The work at the Troutdale Fishery was continued until John 

 Parnaby's death, when I took the whole burden of it on to my 

 own shoulders, and finding the available space and the water 



I supply wholly inadequate, I began searching for another site. No 

 one could imagine the difficulty experienced in finding a really 

 suitable place for the erection of a hatchery, without having gone 

 through it. However, the right spot was found at last, and upon 

 it now stands the well-known Solway Fishery. 



Having secured the necessary land, the first step taken was 

 to dig out five ponds and erect a hatchery. The latter was built 

 of granite, eighty feet long by twenty feet wide inside, and has 

 since been much enlarged. Hatching boxes were fitted up in this 

 room, and one corner was partitioned off for an office pro. tern. 

 At this time I was living fifteen miles away, and found that as the 

 work grew my presence was needed on the spot, and therefore I 

 took up my quarters at the hatchery. It was situated in a wild 

 remote corner among the moors, with only one little cottage 

 house in sight, and there being no sort of accommodation 

 whatever, I did as I should have done had I been in America I 

 camped. 



Yes ! a whole winter was spent in that hatchery, and a very 

 enjoyable winter it was. Before the next I had built a shanty, in 

 which to live when my presence was required on the spot, and 

 this has since been added to until it has assumed considerable 

 proportions. Whilst engaged in the development of the fishery,, 



