GENERAL MANAGEMENT 327 



Although, as remarked in a previous chapter, it 



should be the business of the 

 Repairs to banks, etc. lessor to keep in repair banks, 



stiles, planks, etc., it is not 

 a good policy to worry him or his agent about every 

 little blow-hole in the bank or other minor matters. 

 During the winter months a really good keeper can 

 frequently find time to look after such points as these. 

 Generally the estate will be willing to provide any 

 planks, piles, chalk, or other material required, and 

 the keeper can do part of the work himself, or, better 

 still, give an occasional week's work to any unem- 

 ployed labourers, selecting the most respectable and 

 sober ones. I take it, too, that finding such work 

 locally is a far better form of charity than dis- 

 tributing alms, and thus tending to pauperize men 

 who are willing to work when they can find work 

 to do. 



Permanent improvements should as a rule be 



undertaken in the close season. 

 Improvements to the One of the most important 

 fishery. is the removal of mud, which 



always accumulates in the 

 deeper and slower reaches. A great cause of the 

 thick mud-beds in some parts is that our neighbours 

 often neglect the proper cutting of the weeds. Another 

 fertile source of this trouble is that a plan has been 

 advocated of cutting down each bank and leaving 

 a forest of vegetable growth in the middle of the 

 river. This vegetation dies down, decomposes, and 



