SLOW GROWTH OF GRAYLING. 283 



of April, sometimes a little earlier, at which season 

 they come on the fords, and are then easily taken 

 with the fly, though, of course, at such time they 

 ought to be strictly protected. After spawning 

 they retire into the deeps, and the angler sees 

 very little of them for a long time, and for this 

 reason they are supposed to be a considerable 

 time recovering, though I have never found them 

 rendered so much out of season by spawning as 

 some other fish. The grayling does not grow 

 very fast. Those spawned in spring are three or 

 four inches long in autumn, and in the following 

 autumn about four or five ounces in weight ; and 

 in the autumn after that, when about two and a 

 half years old, they weigh from eight to twelve 

 ounces. Grayling have been caught in the Teme, 

 near Ludlow, weighing four pounds a piece, though 

 one half that weight is rarely captured in that 

 river now.' 



Sir Humphrey Davy says grayling grow much 

 faster, stating that those hatched in May or June 

 become in the following September and October 

 nine or ten inches long, and weigh from five 

 ounces to half a pound. The next year he says 

 they arrive at from twelve to fifteen inches in 

 length, and weigh from three-quarters to a pound. 

 I think Sir Humphrey wrong, and Mr. George 

 right. I should even think their growth is 

 slower than that stated by Mr. George. Grayling 



