Heport of the Meetings for 1895. 219 



COLDINGHAM LOCH. 



Continuing the walk by tlie east side of Coldingham Loch, 

 a good view was obtained of this fine sheet of fresh water, 

 which covers 30 acres of land, is 300 feet above the level 

 of the sea, and about 300 yards distant from it. It has 

 long been stocked with perch, and Mr Usher had recently 

 introduced Salmo Levenensis (Loch Leven trout) which are 

 thriving well. 



Mr Usher has communicated an interesting and valuable 

 letter on the subject to the President, which is here 

 subjoined. 



Dear Sir, — 



I am favoured with yours of 19th, and am very 

 sorry that I cannot be present at the meeting, at the Naturalists' 

 Field Clnb meeting, to be held ac St. Abbs next month. 



Yoa ask me to give yoa a tew notes on the experiment I made 

 in introducing Loch Leven trout into Coldingham Loch. I notice 

 that the description given of this Loch, in the Sportsman's Guide, is 

 that it is the largest sheet of water in Berwickshire, and famous 

 for perch. 



The Loch covers between 20 and 30 acres. There is no supply to 

 it from any burn, and there are no springs except a very small one 

 on the south-west corner. The overflow in summer is nil. 



When I purchased the property, I consulted Sir James Gibson 

 Maitland about stocking it with Loch Leven trout, and he thought 

 it would do; so I put in 2000 yearlings and 1000 2 year old trout 

 from the Howietonn Fishery at Stirling. These fish virere sent in 

 tanks — which have been specially constructed by Sir James Gibson 

 Maitland for the conveyance of live fish — and they were conveyed 

 from Reston to the Loch on carts, without a single death among 

 them. I was not living on the property at that time, and there was 

 a great deal of poaching the following year and onwards — one man 

 making a business of it, and sending them to the London market. 



The rapidity with which the fish grew was something wonderful. 

 The two year old trout, put in about 6 inches long, weighed upwards 

 of one pound the following year, and I have caught them as heavy 

 at 6| and 7 lbs., which shows that there is excellent feeding for trout 

 in the Loch. The feeding consists of grubs of various kinds, leeches 

 and shell-fish, and for the larger trout, perch. The shells are of 

 two kinds, fresh-water wilks and a bivalve like a cockle. 



In consequence of there being no running water into the Loch, the 

 fish cannot perpetuate themselves, and it is necessary to stock the 

 Loch every year to keep up the supply. It is expensive to do so 

 from Stirling with live fish, and I now rear them at a small hatchery 

 near the reservoir. This is a very simple process. I order, from 



