FEBRUARY 45 



fish under a certain weight must not be 

 retained, are kept up in numbers only 

 by artificial stocking every year. In 

 streams of the one class the trout past 

 taking fly and becoming cannibal are 

 thinned out by anglers using worm and 

 minnow ; in streams of the other class 

 the elderly trout, which only sunken baits 

 would lure successfully, are preserved to 

 become scourges of their species. 



Clearly, then, wherever the balance of 

 the sexes is seriously deranged, the old 

 trout should be captured. That is the 

 obvious remedy. At first sight it does 

 seem daring to say that in order that 

 there may be more males we must put an 

 end to the most elderly among the few 

 that are to be found ; but that is indeed 

 the case. Destruction of the patriarchs is 

 the condition precedent to a restored state 

 of nature. This has been made clear by 

 the natural history of the problem. It 

 points to an ideal system of management 

 which will, to begin with, offend the under- 

 standing of those who are interested in 



