74 THE SALMON. 



years when salmon are scarce, and vice versa, of no more 

 value to him than to us ; but if he had looked • a little 

 more closely, he would have been staggered to see how 

 much of method there is in the relations which the sup- 

 plies of each bear to the supplies of the other, which method 

 has apparently a great deal of meaning. It is a pretty 

 general belief among old fishermen that a good grilse 

 season is more than likely to be succeeded by a good 

 salmon season in the year following, and a bad grUse 

 season by a bad salmon season ; and, though we are shy, 

 on such subjects, of the mere dicta of " practical men," 

 who generally derive their data from a very narrow range 

 of experience, and draw their inferences with no very 

 enlightened regard to logical rules, yet on this point they 

 could scarcely go far wrong ; and we can adduce some 

 authentic returns, which, in a very remarkable way, cor- 

 roborate their belief and our explanation of the fact on 

 which their belief is founded. The latest period of five 

 years, for which we have returns of the take on Tweed, 

 shows an annual average capture of slightly more than 

 9000 adult salmon, and of slightly less than 24,000 grilse. 

 In 1851, the first year of these five, the take of grilse was 

 only 16,855, or about two-thirds of the annual average; 

 and in the following season, 1852, the take of salmon was 

 only 5808, bearing just about the same proportion — viz., 

 two-thirds — to the annual average of salmon, as did the 

 grUse of the year preceding to the annual average of 

 grilse. But in 1852, grUse rose to nearly 29,000, con- 

 siderably ahove the annual average ; and in 1853, salmon 

 rose to 9200, also considerably above the annual average 

 of that period of five years. In 1853 there was a great 



