THE BAKBEL. 75 



hole or eddy, or else it will perhaps be swept away down the 

 stream. The best way to try the course of the stream is to 

 take two or three small pieces of wood or stick and throw 

 them on the water, and you will see by the way they float 

 down where to put your ground bait in to suit the circum- 

 stances of the case. And now, having found a swim that 

 holds barbel, the next thing is to bait it. One way of baiting 

 a swim, as practised on the Trent, is to procure half a stone 

 of scratchings. Be sure and get English cake, don't be put 

 off with anything the dealers might want to impose upon you, 

 for the foreign stuff is not fit even for ground bait. When 

 you have got the right sort, break it up small, and put it in a 

 pipkin, and pour boiling water upon it sufficient to cover it, 

 and let it stand all night. Some anglers, instead of merely 

 scalding the scratchings, boil it for an hour or two ; as they 

 say it is whiter and swells more, done so ; there is something 

 in this that is worth considering. Then take about half a 

 peck of small or refuse potatoes (but not diseased ones), and 

 boil them until they will crush up. Now put them and the 

 scratchings into a receptacle together, and then add a half- 

 quartern of barley flour, and mix the whole mass till it 

 will hang together in lumps. It is now ready for use. The 

 cost of this ground bait is but trifling, and it is used a good 

 deal on the Trent. Lumps about the size of a cricket-ball 

 are thrown in, about two-thirds in one night, and the re- 

 mainder the night after. The swim can be fished the fol- 

 lowing day. The angler must remember that before he fishes 

 the swim he must take a little ground bait with him to use 

 while he is fishing, and he ought to prepare it fresh the night 

 before he goes, because it is of no use saving any of that he 

 prepared first, as it is likely to be sour. Before he scalds his 

 scratchings, therefore, in the first instance, he ought to save 

 about a pound of it, a few potatoes, and a handful or two of 

 the barley meal, which can be prepared either the morning 

 he starts to fish, or the night before. Of course, when this 

 ground bait is used, your hook-bait is scratchings, the nicest, 

 best, and whitest bit you can pick out of some that is 

 specially scalded, and without the addition of the potatoes 

 and barley flour (this should also be scalded fresh before you 



