102 SURREY SCENES 



organist at St. Mary's Church at Guildfbrd. But he 

 early caught the enthusiasm for the new industry of 

 which Buckland laid the foundations, and for many 

 years was able, during the spawning season, to furnish 

 trout eggs at the rate of a quarter of a million a day, 

 for private fisheries and exportation. When he first 

 began, the site of the Crichmere ponds was a water- 

 meadow, with a few cress-beds in it. " When I first 

 went to Crichmere," writes a correspondent of the 

 Field, "there were eighteen ponds, and the last time 

 I found them increased to thirty-five in the Crichmere 

 meadows, besides pools and falls. Since then ten acres 

 of additional land has been included, and a number of 

 narrow ponds created. Very proud, too, was Andrews 

 of his pet stud fish, magnificent specimens of fontinalis, 

 fario, and Levens. They were fed with chopped meat 

 for the amusement of visitors, and special friends were 

 allowed the pleasure of casting for and landing one or 

 two with a huge hackled fly, from which the barb of 

 the hook had been filed. Except in Tasmania or New 

 Zealand, it is only here that I ever fly-fished for and 

 caught trout in January. The fontinalis would at first 

 come boldly at the fly, and as the fish fought in the 

 clear water their lovely colourings flashed there, deep 

 orange, silver-white bars to the fins, ruby spots set in 

 turquoise, and perfect mottling on the back. There 

 were over three thousand breeding females in the ponds, 

 ranging from i Ib. to 5 Ibs. in weight. The extraor- 

 dinary size of the Crichmere yearlings has no doubt 

 been due to the rich natural food in the ponds. The 



