72 THE TROUT 



provided always that the keeper and his subordinates 

 know their duties, and perform them. 



But, however excellent a river-keeper may be, 

 lessees and owners of trout-fishings may themselves do 

 much in the direction of the prevention of poaching. 

 They should always make friends with the farmers 

 who are tenants of riverside holdings, and as far as 

 possible consult their wishes with regard to the state 

 of the water in the streams. They should get to 

 know the labourers who work in the fields near the 

 rivers ; and if they do this they will often find them- 

 selves in possession of valuable information probably 

 conveyed in some roundabout fashion respecting 

 the doubtful characters who may inhabit the district. 



Labourers who are thus treated, and occasionally 

 if they have helped the fisherman in any way 

 judiciously * tipped,' often prove most valuable 

 amateur watchers, and are thus of much assistance to 

 the regular keeper. And, above all, every one who is 

 interested in any river should take care to impress on 

 those who fish in it that nothing goes further to pro- 

 mote good feeling and a spirit of friendliness between 

 anglers and riverside tenants than the avoidance of 

 all unnecessary damage to crops growing in fields 

 which stretch to the river-banks. A certain knowledge 

 of agricultural requirements is a good thing for an 



