404 THE SALMON RIVERS OF SCOTLAND 



and for the proper distribution of fish over the spawning ground, 

 there should be a proper pass towards the left bank. The lade 

 could then be sluiced and hecked, and a deal of water saved to 

 the river which at present simply runs to waste. 



THE BLADENOCH 



Angling and netting seasons same as those of Cree. 



The river Bladenoch and its tributary, the Tarn , drain the 

 extensive moorlands of Wigtownshire. The main stream flows 

 down to Wigtown in a south-easterly direction ; the Tarff 

 joins in from the west about 10 miles above the mouth. The 

 Bladenoch rises from Loch Maberry, and receives also a head 

 branch, called the Becock Burn, from Ochiltree. The gradient 

 is very easy for the most part, and the course very sinuous. 

 The total length is about 23 miles. The Tarff rises from a 

 little lochan on the Ayrshire border close to Benbrake Hill, 

 and on considerably higher ground than the Bladenoch. It 

 also winds very much in its course, and while on its southerly 

 course, before it is turned off to the east to join the main river 

 near Kirkcowan, is crossed by the Portpatrick Road. 



The mouth of the Bladenoch is tortuous and tidal for some 

 little distance up, but there is here no gradual widening into a 

 broad estuary as in the case of the Cree at the head of Wigtown 

 Bay. Netting is regularly carried on in the lower reaches of 

 the river, where the river passes through a deeply cut defile 

 with much wooding. Fish begin to ascend in March, but the 

 stock is not what it might be, and the greatest number of fish 

 are therefore expected in the autumn. 



The water of both the Bladenoch and the Tarff is a good 

 deal used for mill power, the Tarff, being the smaller stream, 

 being affected more prejudicially than the other. 



At New Mills, about a mile from Wigtown, there is a dam- 

 dyke 3 ft. 9 in. high, and with a downstream face of 12 

 feet. This height does not seem excessive, more especially 

 since there is a fish -pass of the simple shoot order in the centre 

 of the dyke, but the sill is formed by a beam, which makes an 

 abrupt rise in a manner most formidable to any fish attempting 



