STORMONTFIELD EXPERIMENT. 113 



ing to them. The fish when cooked emits a rashy 

 smell, and as an article of food is unwholesome. 



No one on any pretence should be allowed to 

 take spawned fish from the river, but when caught 

 should return them as little injured as possible; and 

 anglers who use the gaff in their capture should 

 be informed upon. Sometimes, however, the 

 hook will wound the gills of the fish, which in 

 every case proves fatal; but these instances 

 are rare, and to enjoy spring fishing without 

 hooking kelts is impossible. The folly of not\ 

 returning them to the river must be evident from 

 the speedy return of at least a number of these 

 fish during the same season, so greatly increased 

 in weight and condition, as has been proved by ; 

 the experiments of the Duke of Athole. 



The efficient protection of our salmon rivers, 

 and a free passage up the stream to the spawning 

 beds cannot be too strongly insisted upon. The 

 present law on this subject in Scotland is insuffi- 

 cient for this purpose, or it is not acted upon. 

 We would instance the river Ericht at Blair- 

 gowrie, which was formerly one of the most famous 

 salmon rivers in the country, but at the present 

 time a salmon is seldom seen in its waters, and all 

 this is owing to mill-dams which have been erected 



