62 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



source of this growing trouble to salmon interests in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Perth. The particular nature of 

 the various pollutions which enter the river has lately received 

 the careful attention of the District Fishery Board. The desire 

 for the purification of our rivers is becoming keenly felt and 

 expressed on all hands, and without doubt the interest of the 

 valuable fishings will be well served when steps are taken to 

 remedy the evil. The fact that the annual rental of Tay salmon 

 fishings approaches, and has exceeded, 24,000 is sufficient to 

 show the interests involved. Till 1920 the Tay rental has 

 never been below 21,500 (since 1900). 



A little distance above " Rome " the Stormontfield Ponds 

 are situated. These ponds, constructed with the encourage- 

 ment of the then Lord Mansfield, and on his ground, were 

 closely associated with the early experiments to prove that the 

 parr is the young of the salmon, and to elucidate the migratory 

 habits of the fish. Here, from 1853, salmon fry were hatched 

 out in artificially constructed channels resembling natural 

 redds, the young fish being afterwards transferred to ponds. 

 A little book written by Brown the superintendent, and a 

 pioneer of salmon hatching in Scotland, along with Shaw who 

 was head keeper at Drumlanrig, describes the formation of 

 the original establishment and the various experiments 

 conducted by " Peter of the Pools," the keeper of the ponds. 

 The deductions drawn from the early experiments were to a 

 considerable extent erroneous, but were none the less of great 

 value as giving stimulus to this branch of natural history, and 

 inducing other observers to work at the problems suggested. 

 At a later date the hatching place at Stormontfield was cleared 

 of its artificial redds and converted into a rearing pond, while 

 the operation of hatching was transferred to a more modern 

 hatchery situated at Dupplin on the Earn. The ordinary 

 method of hatching on glass grilles was here adopted and 

 carried on with varying results. No great number of ova was 

 at any time laid down in the hatchery, and it is not surprising 

 to find that no certain advantage has been secured from the 

 operations. The hatchery has now been abandoned. The 

 historical associations of Stormontfield Ponds make it almost 

 inevitable that the step should cause a certain amount of 

 regret, but to many it has seemed for several years that the 



