io 4 MAKING A FISHERY. 



that persistent netting will, in time, thin their 

 ranks. Too much stress cannot be laid upon 

 matters of detail connected with this branch of 

 the work. No enemy is so deadly throughout 

 the year, so generally present in chalk streams, 

 and so insatiable in appetite, as the pike ; and 

 no method of killing down is so efficacious as 

 the net. As, in spite of all care, a certain 

 proportion manage to escape, it is to be feared 

 that the most persevering work will not succeed 

 in extirpating the enemy from the streams in 

 which he has once become established. A 

 knowledge of the means by which they do 

 escape may, however, be of use, as well as 

 interest, to lessees and proprietors of trout 

 streams. 

 The weak Many of the coarse fish will always be small 



netting. enough to get through the meshes of the nets, 



and although at the first glance it would appear 

 that the mesh might be almost indefinitely 

 reduced, yet in practice this is only possible to 

 a limited extent. In every stream there are 

 more or less of natural obstructions, such as 

 mud, weeds, stumps, roots, stones, &c, and 

 wherever a river flows through villages or towns 

 it is, unfortunately, the daily custom of the 

 inhabitants to throw into it much of their broken 

 glass and crockery, their empty tins, and worn- 

 out kettles and pans. The smaller the mesh 



