228 THE PERCH 



season, for one of the great attractions that they have 

 for the fish, in my opinion, is that they are absolutely 

 clean. I have found quantities of perch spawn 

 deposited on these hurdles within twenty-four hours 

 after the apparatus had been arranged. 



On a previous page I have explained how a certain 

 amount of sewage sent into a river has indirectly a 

 very fattening effect on perch and many other fish. 

 But while sewage is beneficial in this way, it is most 

 injurious to fish eggs. I had an opportunity of 

 proving this to my entire dissatisfaction at Newbury 

 some years ago. Near the town there used to be a 

 few shoals of large perch, no doubt attracted there by 

 the outfall of the town sewer. The water was foully 

 polluted. The fish, though large, not being very 

 numerous, the local angling association decided to 

 increase the stock by putting down bough-covered 

 hurdles. These were placed in a small artificial 

 cutting leading from the river, a spot where perch 

 were accustomed to congregate in the spawning 

 season. 



I watched the experiment myself, and took care- 

 ful note of the results. On the morning after the 

 hurdles were placed in the water I found several 

 long bands of perch spawn, containing many thousand 

 eggs, resting lightly on the withy twigs. Day after 



