FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 15 



that on your redd you have somewhere about three to six 

 thousand eggs 1 . Of course, with very fine sparwners the num- 

 ber will be considerably more, and even fewer, fish will suffice. 

 Laiter on, when you are better acquainted with the working of 

 the redds, they may be permitted to carry fat more eggs. 



So far, it will be gathered, we have merely formed artificial 

 redds or utilised natural ones, and simply protected them by 

 placing screens at the ends of the series. And, where circum- 

 stances are favourable, this is all that is necessary. It will be 

 noticed that I am dealing only with those redds under control ; 

 otheri natural redds there may be close at hand even, or some- 

 where on the estate. These need not concern you ; they may 

 be left to take their chance if the protected redds are sufficient 

 for your purpose. But they may receive a little outside help 

 at your hands, with benefit both to them and you. As a mat- 

 ter of fact, the protected redds should be sufficient for the pur- 

 pose of stocking your waters. But they may need other pro- 

 tection than that of the screens. For instance, floods may 

 come, and these most certainly demand precaution. Then, 

 again, the redds we have had under consideration are formed 

 or exist directly on the stream. It is quite possible that you 

 may have a good fishing river, but not a length of it suitable 

 for redds on your estate; therefore, they must be made off the 

 main stream. In this connection I may a,t once state that 

 redds formed off a stream are for many reasons better than 

 those formed direct on one ; but they are a little more trouble 

 to make, and are slightly more expensive, although a decent 

 carpenter and a labourer or two for a few days constitute the 

 principal outlay. 



Fig. 2 at once makes clear the method of protecting a series 

 of redds from flood, etc., when they are formed direct on a 

 stream. A A A A are the redds; B B B B are falls; c c are 

 screens (notice that the screens are placed at an acute and 

 obtuse angle across the water and not at right angles to either 

 bank; the reason for this is explained in the chapter on 

 " Screens ") ; D D, D are the sluices ; E is the outlet for the 

 surplus water, at which point a simple contrivance for pre- 



