The Express.
London, England, 1867-03-25 00:00:00

&lilt: ANGLING IRESEI:VATION SoLiEry

/...t,itt.ittet. of this society, with several
• .1 paid t'teir annual visit on Satunlay to the
.• ..ea; 114 for hatching trout and admen, at 11:uripton.
1:.. re. antler the skilful charge of Mr. Ponder, who, in his
c, I. is converted one of his greenhouses into a
t ,t.:.,t.hitng-litaise, the visitors inspecttal the curious mid
e •-fel methml by which the Thames is, by-and-by,
:di% e with silvery salmon and speckled trout.
The s i•lt WAR SO timed that an opportunity was afforded of
hundreds of infant fishes wriggle their way out
ef the egu, aid swim feebly off, bewildered in their new-
foead fre..lma. The spawn is brought from various parts
14 the to and when the fry have become fully deve-
lept•l flay are conveyed to the breeding pond at Sunbury,
•• let ine.l loose into the Thames as soon as they are
to tight their own way in the watery
T....tt way, no doubt, is full of perils, anel it is
to say how many of the Hampton-horn tribes
is ,e., a pray to the fierce voracity of the pike and porch.
I.u: it 1< certain that out of the 206,009 fish turned into
the Thames since Poll a large per tentage have remained
,;er and multiply year by year. As far as the
trout it. concerned there can be no question as to the
r• s It.. of the Lesair of love in which the society has been
I. Whereas formerly the only trout caught in the
• :, r were tin-lusty fish pecolier to the Thames,and named
:.ft• r it, ',nailer fish of other breeds are now captured, awl
ra..y he seen at various point,. above Hampton, leaping and
I ;tat. king during the smellier evenings. In few years the
Ti, t.ucn ought to be one of the finest trout rivets in the
taa.try. Each season the society turn adrift about 40,01.10
.!tong young fish. Last year there were thrown in, of salmon
I 1;001, salmon trout Mkt, common trout 20,700, great lake
trait 1.4.-s) and rime ',MO. This year the numbers will
la. considerably increased. In Dud about 2,utiu grayling
were tidied, and very recently two or three specimens of
this game fish have been taken. Regarding the salmon,
the experiment may be Raid to be still a debateable point
with many mduralists. Sonic maintain that the pollutions
ls!. the Thames are fatal to its success as a salmon river,
that it is impossible for a single fish to pass from
• travesend to Weatuiinster alive. After the champagne
luncheon that succeeded the inspection ou Saturday this
!aim was taken up by Mr. Frank liuckland, whose faith
in I. society's operation', and enthusiasm in the art of
salmon culture, neither ridicule nor predictions of failure
coo shake. In the course of a charming addreas
on " The cultivation of salmon rivers with especial
refiT.nce to the Thames," he insisted that if the Thames,
with :.11 its wealth of tributaries, were thoroughly con-
served and freed from the evil effects of stake-nets, weirs,
waterwheels, poisonous mill sewage, &c., it would be a
noble salmon river, conferring great benefits upon the
public at loge. It will probably surprise many to know
th it in the season of Rea; lallingsgate was supplied at an
average of Is. aid. per lb. with the following number of
box., of salmon, each box containing 1121b5., and from
12 to II fish : —Scotch, 21,725 ; Irish, 9,326 ' • Dutch,
1,772; Norwegian, 1,1;32; Welsh and English, 1,563—
making a total of 30,018 boxes, whose value was over
3ilo,lslot. Of course, if only a portion of the 50,000 salmon
placed in the Thames by the society during the past six sea-
sons have remained, the advantages that will follow from a
merely commercial point of view must be immense. Scot-
Lail of course still senile the largest quantity of salmon
but on the whole its supply has for some years diminished:
In lian, when it sent more than in any subsequent year,
42,330 boxes were sent, while Ireland sent but 470. In
1+44 scotlanil had fallen to 22,603 boxes, while Ireland
had riaen to 5,444, Although from 1834 to 1842 no salmon
were ohnittel from Holland, Norway, or Wales, there is
but little difference between the total weight and price of
io.ported salmon then and now. The returns for 1808 as
pi en on Saturday, show that while the supply from Si;ot-
land still decreases, that of all other sources has increased
in an unusual ratio. Last autumn a middle-sized salmon
was taught oil (Iravesend, and our readers may remember
the warm controversy that arose upon the question,
" How did he get there?" Mr. Rucldand showed a cast
of the fish on Saturday, and strongly reiterated the
opinions he published at the: time, that the admen came
neither from the l'orkibirst rivers on the one hand, nor the
Hampshire streams on the ether, but that it was one
of the society's own progeny. It was stated by one
of the comixany that a bmitinan had testified to seeing
salmon leaping in the Thames during the present
. year, but
as the man acknowledged he hail never aee'd a salmon
afore," the story was considered unworthy of credence.
Saturday'. gathering altogether was extremely pleasant to
all who felt an interest in fish and fishing, not only from
the inspection of the fish-hatching apparatus, butfrum the
speeches made by Mr. S. Whithivail, M.P.,
the chairman (who with his father has from the
trot been an active supporter of the society), by
Mr. I'huiler, Mr. Frank Duckland, Mr. W. H. Brougham
(the 'secretary>, and others. According to Mr. Menziee,
of Windsor, who has devoted much attention to the purl-
Ecation of the Thames, it would appear there is a very
hopeful prospect for those who wish to see the noble
stream in a less polluted state than it now is. During a
comparison of notes among-it some of the old anglers pre-
seat, one gentlenuin thought it might be found profitable
to stock the Thames with pike-perch, a very eatable fish,
found in the Elbe, Oder, and other continental rivers.
It was thereupon suggested by the chairman that it was
opal to question whether, granting that there is one par-
titmlar fish for which every river is hest adapted, the
salmon is the fish for the Thames. The hon. gentleman,
in COIIIIIIOII with many eminent piseiculturists, appeared to
be in favour of the big Thames trout. In arranging the
miler of saturdavat proceedings some weeks before, Mr.
Flimiell was placed upon the list of speakers, and his
reeent death was now feelingly referred to by several of
hi ald frieuils. Amongst the company were Mr. R. Hard-
waae, the publisher, and Mr. Hooper, barrister, who is
hut. perhaps, generally known as the author of the capti-
Tutu " History of a Salmon," published during last year

T!:r. 11t1NE iiok,E SHAY" AND TUE Porg.—A
Itorno, dated the ledh, says:—" Prussian re-
pre,entatives are not to be trilled with now, either in
1:.,10, or anywhere else. Baron Arnim has shown that he
int' mi. to he oenendo,s in the Eternal City, and con-
semp-arly ids one-horse brougham is henceforth
t, knitted within the precincts of the apostolic
Haar, well as those of the Austrian Auibasaa-
for and the Pope's doctor. The dispute between
tl.. Cardinal secretary of State and the Prussian Minister
on thi• subject 1132 terminated triumphantly in favour of
th.• I.o.zer, fore, consequence of instructions received from
hi• eminent he staked the continuance of the Prussian
at Home upon the result, and declared that if he
t,,,t receive an apology for the affront offered to
him. and an unconditional authorisation to drive into
tlt'.ricancourtyard in whatever kind of vehicle he
nkht prefer, be should forthwith haul down the Prussian
31...H.h.n the Caffarelli Palace. On this
intima-
tam Cir.limd Aistonelli knocked under, wrote an ample
5t5.1...-v to the heron, and a still more ample permission for
lnn t.. I ..rnerot as many or as few hones to his carriage as
11.. may ti,,nk proper when busier:is or courtesy may take
. m the V.•tican Palace. This concession was made two
and this victory of the needle-horse is now as
ektllted in diplomatic circles here as that of the
need;: gun wn in the Austro-Prnasian campaign."