34 An Angler's Paradise. 



wonderful mechanical contrivances, should have almost entirely 

 neglected, until within the last few years, to endeavour to increase 

 the rapidly diminishing and deteriorating supplies of fish in some 

 of our waters. 



True it is, that as the mournful looking morass or the 

 heathery moor have in so many cases been transformed into fields 

 of waving corn, and often made to produce an abundant crop 

 where hardly a blade would grow before, so our most unfruitful 

 streams can be filled with salmon or trout; our lakes, ponds, 

 reservoirs and other waters may be made to teem with life, and 

 to produce as rich and abundant a harvest as some of the best 

 cultivated fields in our favoured land. And why not cultivate fish 

 just as much as ducks or poultry, or any other produce of the 

 farm-yard ? 



Now that we know that a river or a pond may be doubled 

 in value by a reasonable outlay ; or, to put the matter in another 

 way, now that we know that the yield of fish may thus be doubled 

 or more than doubled in any locality, surely the matter is worth 

 our serious attention. Whether entered into with a view to 

 supplying the market, or with the intention of affording an 

 increase of sport to anglers, the time has come when the growing 

 of fish no longer remains as a curious and interesting scientific 

 experiment, but is unjait accompli. Much has already been learned, 

 as the results are proving, and there is great encouragement in 

 looking back for twenty years and noting the progress that has 

 been made. There is a wide field open before us. The only 

 question is Who will go in and occupy it ? There is endless 

 scope for development of our water, and now that we know how 

 to develop there is good reason for making a commencement. 

 Every valley should have its set of fish ponds for angling purposes, 

 and be able to provide some good fishing for those who want it. 



The fish ponds that are at present to be found on various 

 parts of the Continent, are not only highly interesting, but are also 

 very suggestive. As far back as the middle ages, the monks are 

 said to have had a valuable system of fish culture. In this 

 country, too, we know that it was the case, for not only is it an oft- 

 repeated historial fact, but the remains of the fish ponds are 

 there to tell their own tale. What was the special object of the 



