of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



91 



to hold salmon and grilse, if the dams which obstruct it were ren- 

 dered passable for fish. The lowest of these is at Reclkirk. This is a 

 very steep dam, nearly 6 feet in height, and with a sloping face or 

 apron of only 13 feet, or a gradient of almost 2 horizontal to 1 

 perpendicular. There is no pass or ladder of any kind. A subsi- 

 diary dam should be made from the bridge to the fourth timber strut 

 on the dam, or at the narrowest point of the river a little below the 

 bridge. A* diagonal board along the face of this weir might possibly 

 enable salmon to ascend, and it would be less expensive than a 

 subsidiary dam. It would not, however, be so effectual. There is 

 no heck on the lade leading from this dam. There is some good 

 spawning ground between Redkirk and Beltenmont Mill higher 

 up the Kirtle. The dam at Beltenmont is a great obstruction, and 

 only sea-trout can get up beyond it. Its lower step is covered 

 with wooden planks to supply the place of the rough stones that 

 have fallen out. The late Mr Frank Buckland wrote as follows 

 about this dam in 1871 : — 'The weir at Beltenmont is exceedingly 

 c difficult to ladder ; the only chance is to go round by means of a 

 ' semi circular cut or trough made in the west bank. This should be 

 ■ made of boards fixed into the earth, and so arranged that when 

 ' the hatches of the mill are shut the water should go down the 

 ' pass, and not over the weir.' 



There is no heck on the lade connected with this dam, and the 

 bottom of the lade is all fine spawning ground. Above Beltenmont 

 is Kirtle Bridge Mill. The dam belonging to this mill offers a 

 serious impediment to ascending fish. It is fully 5 feet in height, 

 and the length of the slope or apron of the dam is only 10 feet 

 5 inches. There is a deep pool beneath. For the purpose of 

 enabling fish to surmount this obstruction, a subsidiary dam 3 feet 

 high might be constructed 41 feet below the main dam, beginning 

 at a fragment of old wall on the right bank. The channel of the 

 stream is here 40 feet wide. There is no heck on the lade from 

 this dam, which supplies two mills. 



Salmon Fishings in the Annan District. 



The value of the salmon Fishings in the Annan District has 

 increased steadily, if not rapidly, since the passing of the Salmon 

 Fisheries Act of 1862, as the following statistics will show. In 

 1864, the value of the sea fishings was £673, and of the river 

 fishings £111, 14s. In 1870, the value of the former was 

 £1100, 10s. ; and of the latter £112, 4s. During the three years 

 1877-1879, both inclusive, the- yearly value of the fishings had 

 risen to £1371, 18s. 6d., of which there was spent in watching, pro- 

 secutions, &c, £792, 6s. 8d. In 1880, the yearly value was £1391, 

 10s. ; in 1881, it was £1718, 10s. ; and in 1882 £1719, 12s. 8d., 

 of which £1543, 2s. 8d. belonged to the nets, while the value of the 

 angling waters was only £176, 10s. During these three years, 

 1880-1882, both inclusive, £1013, 2s. 4d. was spent in watching, 

 prosecutions, &c. The valuation for the past season is £1864, 



