MANAGEMENT. 



35 



be no local men, and one's intimate friends 

 cannot recommend anyone for the post of head 

 keeper, the only resource open is to advertise. 

 As a rule such an advertisement in the sporting 

 press will bring hundreds of answers from all 

 parts of the country. The majority will be 

 from gamekeepers out of place, or second 

 keepers on large estates wishing to improve 

 their position. They will inclose numerous 

 testimonials from their late or present employers 

 certifying that they have full knowledge of the 

 art of pheasant rearing, and are learned in the 

 mysteries of trapping vermin. Some will 

 emanate from pensioned soldiers or policemen, 

 men no doubt of good character but absolutely 

 ignorant of the work of a river keeper. Some 

 will profess to know all about the subject, 



because in their beat on Lord 's estate 



there was a salmon pool or a stream, contain- 

 ing a few joz. trout. Some can, or say they 

 can, dress salmon flies, and others, again, have 

 gained their experience as Thames or Trent 

 fishermen, and know how to bait a barbel 

 swim, or make a gudgeon spin truly on a flight 

 of hooks. 



Some of the answers may come from old 

 chalk stream keepers who are known to one or 

 more of the members as incompetent, lazy, 

 drunken scoundrels. As a warning to my 



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