SALMON AND TROUT CULTURE. 473 



what is called * judicious ' cutting. Some river keepers think 

 that their sole duty is to walk leisurely up the river once a day to 

 look out for anglers— or for 'tips'?— but as for their preserving 

 the fish in other and more effectual ways, there might as well 

 be no keeper at all ! On the other hand, there are keepers to 

 whose knowledge and thoughtfulness the proprietor owes his 

 valuable fishery. 



Several such men are known to the writer, and have been 

 *on the water' all their lives, doing their duty thoroughly and 

 fearlessly, whether the offenders be 'gentlemen' or poachers. 



Millers say they cannot get the ' tail ' water away from their 

 wheels ; and this, when true, is undoubtedly a loss of power to 

 them : but a very little time spent in clearing weeds from cer- 

 tain spots would allow the water to pass, and at the same time 

 retain 'hides' for the fish, and so encourage them to remain. 

 There is such a thing as retaining too many weeds and thereby 

 injuring sport to a great extent; but if weeds are left to grow in 

 big patches, and only here and there a clear space cut, the fish 

 are inclined to feed more boldly, being but a few feet away 

 from a good 'holt.' It is the angler's fault or misfortune if 

 he loses fish by allowing them to dive head first into a patch 

 of weed. 



The best fish and best sport are always to be had in a fairly 

 weedy part of the stream. 



By 'sport,' I do not mean great bags of fifteen or twenty 

 brace, but good honest fights with a brace or two of three or 

 four pounders, which have taxed all the angler's powers of 

 patience and skill to bring to bank. The after-dinner stories 

 of a triumph over a ' real big one ' afford a true sportsman more 

 pleasure than the bragging of ' a basket full ' taken on a day, 

 and under circumstances, when the veriest novice could not 

 fail to catch them if he kept his fly in the water. 



Thomas Andrews. 



[Some further notes on the breeding and cultivation of 

 ' Coarse Fish,' including the Black Bass of America, by Mr. 

 R. B. Marston and the Marquis of Exeter, will be found in 

 Vol. II.— H. C.-P.] 



