ENGLAND AND WALES 219 



long suspected that the steadily increasing mass 

 of weeds in spring and summer chokes the lower 

 reaches to such an extent that the salmon on entering 

 the river find it almost impossible to force their way, 

 and that they drop back into tidal waters. When 

 the weeds die down in autumn the fish have a clear 

 run. Scarcely one of the riparian owners for many 

 miles on the lower reaches is a fisherman, or takes the 

 slightest interest in the salmon or in weed-cutting, 

 and the river bed has been sadly neglected. The 

 absence of grilse is the more mysterious inasmuch as 

 great numbers of salmon parr may be seen making 

 their way to the sea. It is true that the whole 

 river swarms with pike and other coarse fish; but 

 that, surely, cannot be the full explanation. The 

 lightest fish I have killed on the Frome weighed 

 12 Ibs. The absence of small fish is peculiar to the 

 Frome and the Avon. I cannot recall an analogy 

 in my experience, which extends to many rivers of 

 Britain, Scandinavia, Iceland, and America."" 



The AXE and the YARTY have been falling off. 

 In the belief of Mr. W. H. B. Knight, Chairman of 

 the Fishery Board, one of the chief reasons is that 

 there is now no expansion at the mouth. The river 

 where it enters the sea is only a few yards wide at 

 low water. "Another reason, I think, is agricul- 

 tural drainage, the effect of which is that the water 

 comes down at once instead of coming gradually. 

 In small rivers such as these this means that there 

 is but little water running the greater part of the 

 year, and that the fish are not eager to go up. 



