10 



Appendices to Thirteenth Annual Report 



exist and render the administration of the law on the Solway both 

 difficult and costly, and asking the advice and assistance of the Board in 

 the matter. The Board, therefore, directed me to visit the Solway, to 

 attend the conference, and to report to them regarding the nature of the 

 grievances complained of. My report on this matter has already been 

 submitted for the information of the Board. 

 Inspection of On the 14th December I visited the Strathlachlan, a small river of 

 Strathlachlan Argyleshire, which rises near Tom a Bhiorain and enters Loch Fyne close 

 to Castle Lachlan. The course of the river, where it flows through the 

 grounds of Castle Lachlan, has been artificially straightened and 

 widened. The result of these alterations has been to make the river 

 so shallow that salmon and sea trout cannot ascend to the upper spawning 

 streams except in heavy floods. At the request of the proprietor I was 

 authorised by the Board to visit the river and to recommend some scheme 

 for facilitating the ascent of the fish. The suggestions I made have since 

 been carried out and, it is satisfactory to learn from the proprietor, are 

 proving successful. 



Craive dyke on By the direction of the Fishery Board I attended a meeting of the 

 river Deveron. District Board of the river Deveron held at Banff on the 22nd December, 

 when the cruive dyke on that river formed the subject of consideration. 

 After considerable discussion, the following motion was agreed to : — ' The 

 1 suggestion having been made that the differences of opinion regarding 

 ' the cruive might be removed by the purchase of the cruive dyke by 

 1 the Board under the powers of section 13 of the Act of 1868, and the 

 1 same having been favourably considered, the Board resolve to communi- 

 ' cate this view to the Duke of Fife, and invite him to state a price for 

 ' which he would be willing to dispose of the cruives and dyke to the 

 ' Board, and to explain that they put this question in view of the diffi- 

 ' culties of obtaining the necessary consent of four-fifths value of the 

 ' fishings on the roll without this information. 1 In connection with this 

 question I was instructed by the late Chairman of the Board to draw 

 up, in consultation with Messrs Carmichael & Miller, W.S., a memo- 

 randum in regard to the law relating to the construction and use of 

 cruives prior to the Salmon Fishery Act of 1862, and as to the effect 

 of that Act and relative bye-laws thereon. This memorandum is appended 

 as Note III. to the present report. 



Salmon Fishery With the kind assistance of the Berwick Salmon Fishing Company, 

 Investigations. an( j 0 f gt ee j ej fi s h dealer, Kelso, certain specific investigations into the 

 life-history and habits of salmon were conducted last year at Berwick-on- 

 Tweed and Kelso. The information which was collected, although 

 necessarily limited at present, has been tabulated by Mr Tosh and is given 

 in Note II. appended to this report. It will be seen from Mr Tosh's 

 report that the points which formed the subject of investigation were 

 (1) the rate of growth of the genital organs; (2) the food of salmon; 

 and (3) the proportion of male to female salmon taken in each month. 

 Besides the investigations made on the above points the question of the 

 migration, growth, &c, of salmon was made the subject of inquiry, and 

 with this object a number of salmon were marked. 



Observations on these points have been made in Switzerland, Holland, 

 and Norway, and have led to the accumulation of much valuable informa- 

 tion. In Switzerland investigations were made by Professor Meischer 

 Ruesch of Basle, with a view of ascertaining the influence which a 

 lengthened sojourn in fresh water exercises on the condition of salmon, 

 and more particularly on that of their genital organs. The specimens 

 examined were caught in the neighbourhood of Basle, over 500 miles 



