186 THE NEW AKT OF BREEDING FISH. 



which the profits should be divided between the pro- 

 prietors of the upper and lower parts of the river. 

 This is a matter of detail which might easily be ar- 

 ranged, as questions of tenfold more difficulty occur 

 every year in the conduct of ordinary corporations. 

 It may be asked, would I make the adoption of this 

 scheme compulsory on every salmon river. Certainly 

 not. I would first pass a general act of Parliament 

 prohibiting the use of stake nets or any other engine 

 or device of any description whatsoever that was fixed 

 and self-acting in any river, or estuary of a river, 

 frequented by salmon. The close days might be left 

 to the discretion of the magistrates assembled in 

 quarter sessions, as provided by statute now in force. 

 It would then be necessary to prohibit the use of any 

 net in a salmon river under a certain sized mesh, so 

 as to prevent the taking of all young fry, or fish, un- 

 der a given weight. I think these provisions impe- 

 ratively necessary in any public act. It is impossible 

 to say how many thousands and millions of young 

 salmon are destroyed by these pestilent inventions. 

 Take as many as you can with the rod, but let no 

 man, under a penalty, take with a net, in a salmon 

 river, any fish less than five pounds weight. This 

 would simplify the matter very much, and would in- 

 jure no one, as the real mercantile value of a fishery 

 is determined almost altogether, by the weight and 

 number of the salmon taken. Let any man con- 

 sider for himself the amount of mischief done by 

 taking so many thousands of salmon in their first 



