314 THE DRY-FLY MAN'S HANDBOOK 



a number of rods for the season or sometimes even 

 for single days. The meadows are then overrun with 

 fishermen, the tenants' grass is trodden down, the 

 banks are injured, the fishermen do not always confine 

 themselves to the fly or dry-fly, and undersized fish are 

 killed. 



I quite advocate a freeholder protecting himself on 

 these points by laying down stringent conditions as 

 to the number of rods on the water, the limit of size, 

 the necessity for the fishing being pursued in a sports- 

 manlike manner, the seasons during which the tenant 

 and his friends may fish, etc. etc. The lessor must 

 remember, however, that with an agreement requiring 

 renewal from year to year a tenant cannot afford to 

 make permanent improvements in the fishery nor to 

 stock properly with the view of ensuring good sport in 

 years to come. If the lessee goes to heavy expense 

 in reference to these and similar matters he runs a 

 great risk of finding his rent raised in subsequent 

 seasons. 



For myself, I should not care to embark on the 

 venture of making a fishery with a tenure of less 

 than seven years, and even then I believe the land- 

 lord would find his property greatly enhanced in value 

 at the termination of the lease. The ideal tenure for 

 a true sportsman is a lease of twenty-one years, termin- 

 able at the tenant's option by giving six months' 

 notice to determine at the end of the seventh or 

 fourteenth year. It is even worth while for the sake 

 of obtaining a longer lease to offer a small increase in 



