54 



Appendices to Eighteenth Annual Report 



eight weeks, turned loose into the Kiver Spey. This makes the seventh 

 annual huge contribution of hatched salmon fry contributed from this same 

 source. I visited the hatchery several times during the different stages of the 

 deposited ova from embryo to alevin, and saw the lively masses of young fry 

 ready for foreign or extraneous nurture and wider aquatic bounds. During 

 the spring season of present year, six rearing ponds, 48 by 9 feet and 4 feet 

 deep, were erected by order of His Grace upon Cunninghaugh, near Fochabers- 

 on-Sj^ey Eailway Station, with a supply of water to flow the ponds diverted 

 and conveyed in pipes from the Bogmoor burn. The ponds are constructed 

 in a most painstaking way, with all the necessary preliminary water settling 

 ponds, in which any solids or sediment which the burn water might contain 

 in suspension and solution during floods or spates are prevented from entering 

 the fish ponds. Fine perforated iron gratings or sieves are placed at the 

 entrance and outlet of water to and from each fish pond. Each pond by 

 means of a sluice can be run dry without stopping the supply of running 

 water to the others. At the end of May last feeding operations were resorted 

 to at the Fochabers hatchery with a batch of 80,000 fry, a man being specially 

 employed or set aside to exclusively attend to said work. Specially prepared 

 food was brought from the Sol way Firth for this work. During the month 

 of August last the 80,000 fry were conveyed in large carboy vessels from the 

 hatchery and placed in the rearing ponds, where up till the present time they 

 have been fed and tended by the man in charge with the most satisfactory 

 results. There have been very few deaths among the brood since their removal 

 to the ponds, and the growth in size of the individual fry has been consider- 

 able. It is quite a show to visit the ponds at feeding time and see the great 

 multitudes of fry as they flock and swarm to the surface to grab the food 

 thrown into the water. They are fed three times daily. They may also be 

 seen jumping at and catching flies. A boiling-house with all the necessary 

 apparatus has been built within the enclosure at the ponds, and here a con- 

 siderable amount of the fish food is now being manufactured under the super- 

 intendence of Mr. T. Rae. 



The full force of bailiffs or Spey police is constituted as follows : — The 

 superintendent, residing in Aberlour ; the inspector, stationed at Grantown ; 

 eight sergeants and thirty-seven constables. 



GEORGE K. MACGREGOR, Superintendent. 



THE DISTRICT OF THE RIVER FINDHORN, 



Take of Fish— 



1. (a), (6), (c), and (d) Below average. 



2. No. 



3. (a) 11th February ; (b) from the middle of April to the end of May ; 



(c) few grilse are got in May, but July is the best month for grilse and 

 sea- trout. 



4. Have no information. 



5. (a) 38 lbs.; (b) 41 lbs.; (c) 14 lbs. 



Protection — 



1. £3,436. 



2. £345. 



3. Three permanent bailiffs. Fifteen bailiffs employed during spawning 



season. 



4. No prosecutions. 



Obstructions to the Passage of Fish — 

 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. None. 



Pollutions — 



1 and 2. A distillery has commenced working in the district in 1899, and 

 the bye-products have found their way into a tributary of the Findhorn. 

 The Board has called on the Distillery Company to desist, and also 

 to remove the existing pollution. 



