of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



7 



greenish coloured substance from Messrs. Scott's mills entered, so that 

 a large pool had its waters completely discoloured. The general 

 appearance of the river also shows that it is considered the convenient 

 receptacle for refuse of other sorts. At low tide I had experience of 

 the fact that even with a comparatively high river the margins of the 

 stream are coated with foetid refuse, while the quieter parts of the water 

 carry a disagreeable scum. I can well imagine that during dry 

 weather the condition of the bed of the stream must become extremely 

 bad. I was informed that at such times anglers of Dumfries who hold 

 tickets to fish this section of the water abandon the river, finding wading 

 unbearable. I learned also that at present a proposal is on foot to drain 

 the suburb of Maxwelltown into a small burn which enters the Nith at 

 a pool, called the Round Pool, opposite the centre of the War Depart- 

 ment ground. The 13th Section of the 1862 Act (25th and 26th Vict., 

 c. 97), as amended by Section 16 of the 1868 Act (31st and 32nd Vict., 

 c. 123), is deprived of the strength with which it originally was vested, 

 on account apparently of the amendment being incomplete. The result 

 is that District Fishery Boards, although composed of riparian pro- 

 prietors, are in a worse position to cope with the evils of pollution than 

 are individual proprietors. The fact, therefore, that District Fishery 

 Boards are the bodies organised for the purpose of dealing with salmon 

 fishery regulation and protection is, in view of this, a hindrance to the 

 organised action of proprietors apart from the District Boards. Yet, in 

 the case of the Countess Dowager of Seafield and others v. Kemp, the 

 decision of which will be found in Note IV. of the 17th Annual Report, 

 Part II., we have an example of a successful objection to serious river 

 pollution and injury to salmon fishings, apart from the Fishery Board of 

 the Spey District. 



Until such time as the powers of District Boards are improved in this 

 matter, therefore, it would appear that the evil spoken of can be more 

 readily combated by the action of individual proprietors than by the 

 action of the District Fishery Board. 



(c) The Lack of Facilities for the Proper Distribution of Fish 

 to the Spawning Grounds. 



In the main river, the natural possibilities for developing the salmon 

 fisheries (angling) and for increasing the stock of fish are, in my opinion, 

 considerable. A beautiful series of streams and pools exists, and there 

 are not a few places where the bed of the river is very well suited for 

 spawning. The extensive mileage of water belonging to His Grace the 

 Duke of Buccleuch could, I think, be rendered of great value were the 

 evils of which I have spoken under headings (a) and (/;) overcome, and a 

 suitable stock of fish obtained. Dumfries cauld has already been cited 

 as the only obstruction in the main river, and this, at such times as the 

 gap and fish-pass are plentifully supplied with water (as during the time 

 of my visit), does not appear to me to offer very serious difficulty to 

 ascending fish, although I have no doubt that during low conditions of 

 water the two lower of the three pools which form the pass proper are 

 of small service. During the latter conditions the pass is probably un- 

 satisfactory, but on the individual merits of each cauld in the district it 

 is unnecessary for me to enter, in view of the report which has already 

 been presented on those structures by my predecessor. I would only 

 state that I found during my visit that the heavy floods of the previous 

 winter had carried away three of the dams — viz., the dam to the blanket 

 work on Crawick Water, the dam of the disused mill on Menock Water, 

 and the lower of the two dams at Dalgoner on the Cairn Water. In 



