254 



Appendices to Thirty-third Annual Report 



other valloy menaced the one remaining source of water supply, and with 

 it the sahnon fisheries of the district. Compensation water to the extent 

 of 29.000,000 gallons was proposed, being the third of the estimated 

 average flow. This quantity, I may state, would pass in twenty-four 

 hours through eight 18 inch pipes placed side by side. The salmon river 

 below Loch Lubnaig, supplied by this insignificant water-flow, wonld have 

 been reduced to a very small stream, the natural spawning grounds would 

 have been laid bare to a great extent, spring fish would in all probability 

 have forsaken the river altogether, and the very gross pollutions which 

 now exist at and below Stirling, to which I made special reference in 

 my last Annual Report, would have been sufiicient to produce, in my 

 opinion, a frequently recurring mortality amongst fish in the tidal waters, 

 thus bringing to an end, to all intents and purposes, the net fishing of the 

 Forth estuary. 



The proprietors of salmon fishings and the District Fishery Board 

 opposed the granting of the Order in consequence, and, after an inquiry 

 by a Committee of the House of Lords, the Bill was thrown out. 



Don. 



Iw my Report published in the 31st Annual Report, p. 241, I re- 

 ferred to the fish passes which have been erected on the river Don, conse- 

 quent upon the Court of Session action of the Earl of Kintore and others 

 against Messrs. Alex. Pirie k Sons, Ltd., which was decided on 21st 

 December 190L In that Report I gave two sketch plans, showing the 

 Mugiemoss Dyke Pass as it now exists, and the form of the pass which 

 was previously at this dyke. 



A point of special interest in connection with the arrangements come 

 to at Stoneywood Lade, is the automatic manner in which the proper 

 water supply is provided for. By decision of the Court, no water can 

 be taken to the lade till the fish pass is running full. Messrs. Pirie 

 can then draw off 11,000 cubic feet of water per 24 hours in their lade. 

 In the event of a further rise of level in the river, Messrs. Pirie may 

 not take more than their 11,000 cubic feet till the crest of the Stoney- 

 wood Dyke is covered by 6 J inches of water. Thereafter the works 

 may have half the surplus supply. 



This whole arrangement has not been left to the manipulation of 

 sluices by employees either of the District Fishery Board or of the mill 

 owners, but has been secured by an automatic arrangement of such interest 

 as to deserve a fuller description. 



Mr. Alexander Dufi^us, of Messrs. Wilsone & Duffus, the Clerks to 

 the Don Board, acted throughout the protracted and complicated negotia- 

 tions, in the interests of the Salmon Fishery Proprietors, and has kindly 

 provided me with the following account of the arrangements : — 



Memorandum regarding Operations on various Dam Dykes on the Lower 

 Reaches of the River Don. 



As the result of negotiations following the ultimate judgment of the 

 House of Lords in the action at the instance of the Earl of Kintore and 

 others against Messrs. Alex. Pirie & Sons, Limited, Stoneywood, various 

 arrangements were come to in the way of defining and regulating the 

 abstraction of water from the river and the providing of increased facilities 

 for the ascent of fish over the various obstacles in the river bed. 



The Agreement entered into between the various parties interested, 

 these being the Fishing Proprietors, the Messrs. Pirie, Stoneywood, the 



