A WET AUTUMN. 179 



how, but this is far from being the case. They 

 are cultivated on scientific principles, — nearly every- 

 thing intended for the markets is so cultivated in 

 these days. The purest running water is required 

 to run through them and at times over them, and 

 there must also be the cleanest arrangement at 

 the bottom of the beds — no mud, not a bit of it. 

 This is just the arrangement which trout appre- 

 ciate, and as the beds are supplied from trout- 

 streams it is only natural that trout should come 

 and make their homes in the beds, and they do 

 so. This is the time of year, when the season 

 has been a favourable one, that trout grow restless, 

 and explore places that at other times they would 

 avoid. The heron knows all about this, and he 

 comes to explore on his own account as well. 

 Now, as the trout as well as the cress on these 

 beds are the property of the owners of them, these 

 owners naturally object to feeding herons on the 

 beds, or it might be more correct to say, to the 

 herons feeding themselves in such places without 

 permission. 



One of the young fellows who at one time walked 

 in the beds told me that he'd "sin 'em come — in 



