of the Fishery Board for Scotland. 



125 



mendation made by Mr Buckland and myself, in our Eeport of 

 1871, that a subsidiary dam should be built below the main dam 

 from one side of the river to the other, has now been carried out, 

 salmon have no difficulty in ascending. The subsidiary dam is 

 about 40 yards long, and cost £300. The lade connected with 

 this mill in dry weather abstracts half the water from the river. 

 There is an ingenious revolving heck at the tail-lade. The weir 

 next above this is at Barons Mill. But, I was informed that this 

 mill is likely to be given up and the weir done away with, as the 

 buildings have been allowed to become ruinous, and are not to be 

 repaired. The dam on the Girvan at the Kilkerran Sawmills is 

 4 feet 8 inches in height, with a gradient of 1 in 2 J — a much 

 steeper gradient than is permitted by the bye-law (Schedule G) 

 which regulates the construction and alteration of mill dams, lades, 

 &c. But when the river is high, fish have no great difficulty in 

 ascending. The dam at the Kirkmiehael Sawmills, which in 1870 

 was the worst obstacle on the river, has now ceased to be so, as 

 floods have torn a gap in it 10 yards wide, quite down to the bed 

 of the stream ; and it was stated to me that this is not likely to be 

 filled up. The natural obstruction above all these weirs, called the 

 Linn of Blairquhan, retards the passage of salmon to many miles 

 of excellent spawning ground, except when the river is in flood. 

 When I inspected it last autumn, there was a great rush of water 

 over the rock, as the river was just beginning to subside after a 

 heavy flood. A ridge of rocks hollowed out beneath runs quite 

 across the channel. The height of the jump from the linn below 

 to the stream above was about 5 feet when I saw it. But when 

 the river is low it may be a foot or two more. I observed several 

 fish attempting to make the jump, but I saw only one succeed in 

 surmounting the obstruction. All the others failed and fell back. 

 It seemed to me that access to the upper waters would be facilitated 

 by blasting out about the centre of the falls, 6 feet or so in width 

 of the projecting ledge of rock, and making a V-shaped cut or 

 channel, extending for some distance upwards from the crest of the 

 rock left after the ledge had been blasted, or else — and if this 

 could be done, it would be the surest and most effectual plan — to 

 build a subsidiary dam across the narrowest part of the stream 

 below the linn, say from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet in height. This 

 would raise the water to that extent on the face of the falls, 

 and would give ascending fish two perfectly easy jumps, with a 

 pool between to rest in, instead of, as at present, one difficult jump. 

 There might be a doubt of the subsidiary dam standing the winter 

 floods, unless it was constructed of heavy blocks of concrete. Of 

 ordinary stone there is abundance at hand. Such a dam, too, 

 might possibly rather detract from the beauty of the linn and 

 surrounding scenery. There are five miles of good angling water 

 and excellent spawning ground above Blairquhan Linn. But I 

 was informed that beyond this there is another fall, about 20 feet 

 high, called Tairland Linn, which shuts out several miles of good 

 breeding water. The rent of the sea fishings in the Girvan district 

 is £415, and of the river fishings £160. The assessment for 

 watching and protecting the river imposed by the District Board 



