IRELAND 203 



we have had. On the tidal portion of the river 

 the net -men, especially during the grilse season, 

 have been very successful. There is not so much 

 poaching at the mouth as there used to be, and 

 the weather has been such as to bring up the 

 fish. The chief cause of the increase, however, is 

 that there were many more fry turned out from Mr. 

 Hall Dare's hatchery at Newtownbarry. Besides, for 

 three or four seasons now during the spawning 

 time the Slaney and its tributaries have been less 

 or more in a flooded state, and the fish have 

 been less liable to be killed on the redds. There is 

 no pollution. On the other hand, the funds at the 

 disposal of the Conservators are unequal to the 

 full needs of the river." 



The BOYNE, which receives the Blackwater at 

 Navan, in County Meath, is in many places congested 

 by weeds and bulrushes. Mr. R. R. FitzHerbert, 

 Black Castle, writes : 



" I have known the Boyne for over forty years. 

 In 1862 the sport was poor. At that time the 

 step ladders were few and the ' Queen's gaps ' fewer. 

 After the passing of the Salmon Act in 1863 there 

 was not much improvement for some years; but 

 about 1870 there began a gradual increase in the 

 number of salmon, and until 1880 there was steady 

 progress. Between 1880 and 1886 there was a 

 great increase. From 1862 to 1872 the number of 

 the salmon caught at Black Castle was from 70 

 to 100 a year ; from 1880 to 1886 the number was 

 from 400 to 760. About 1880, despite a protest 



