e bred. I quite agree
with him in this, provided nature had fair play; but she has not,
and occasionally needs a little help: else why do we employ game-
keepers to trap cats, foxes, and weasels, to shoot hawks, carrion
crows, and magpies, and to breed pheasants, as well as to prevent
poaching? If these precautions are unnecessary, why go to such
expense? and if they are necessary for hares and birds, may they
not be also for fish?

I hope Salmo Salar will investigate what I said about walling in
of the Smolts in Langden Brook. I fancy he may have seen these
enclosures himself; at all events, I have, and although I cannot
prove they were erected for that purpose, I do not doubt the
accuracy of my information.

I am, Sir,
Yours very truly,
THOMAS GARNETT.

* * * * *

The following letter was sent to me from Chester:--

CHESTER, _3rd February_, 1854.

SIR,--We are about to make application to Parliament for a
Commission of Inquiry into the state of laws respecting the
fisheries of England and Wales. And Mr. Ashworth, of Poynton, has
been so good as to refer me to you, as able and willing to furnish
us with information on the subject.

The annual meeting of the river Dee fishery association will be
held on the 20th instant, when I purpose to lay before them the
draft of a petition to Parliament for their approval.

I am anxious in the meantime to obtain all the information
possible relative to the working of the present laws, their
defects, and the alterations to be proposed in them, in order that
a condensed statement may be embodied in the petition as the
ground of our application.

I should be exceedingly obliged for any remarks your experience
may suggest, and trust you will accept the cause which dictates my
writing as a sufficient apology for troubling you on the subject.

I have had great pleasure in reading your able replies to Salmo
Salar's letters. On the appearance of the first, I was strongly
prompted to reply to it myself, but rejoiced to find him in much
better hands.

I remain, Sir,
Yours very truly,
WILLIAM AYRTON.

* * * * *

CLITHEROE, _4th February_, 1854.

TO WM. AYRTON, ESQ.

DEAR SIR,--I am favoured with your letter of yesterday, and shall
be glad to give you any information I may possess on the habits of
Salmon, or the requirements of any act of Parliament necessary for
the preservation and increase of this valuable fish. Being a mill-
owner, I have interests which are supp