ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 89, 24 April 1901, Page 4

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

WHEN WILL THE WATER SUPPLY COME ? ' * At the annual meeting of the Acclimatisa- j tion Society on Saturday the question of j how the surplus funds should be dealt £ with catne on for discussion. “ You will £ have to consider,” said the President, “ whether the money will be expended in £ the procuring of .trout, deer, or various ( kinds of quail.” , Mr Acland Hood asked whether it ' would not be well to conserve what there ( was in hand until the decision was known in regard to a water supply. If a water supply for the town were provided for there would be a good reservoir, and they would probably arrange to have a hatchery in connection therewith, the same as in Wellington. He believed that if the trout could thus be kept until they were a pound weight before being turned out into the rivers the work would be a success. The expense of that would still leave some funds for the purchase of quail, also to get the Motu stocked with trout. There was a gentleman there who took great interest in the subject, and by the time the railway reached there the river should be stocked. A member : We will all be dead then. (Laughter.) Mr Hood proposed that the surplus fund be conserved pending the decision as to a water supply. Mr Dewing : Do you know when- we are going to have one ? In reply to Mr Kenway, Mr Hood said that he meant that the 1171 should be conserved, leaving the current revenue to be applied to other purposes. Mr Chambers : That means to conserve the lot ? Mr Hood : Yes, if we get a reservoir and make an effort to stock the streams, it will cost a good deal. Mr Price said there was no prospect of a reservoir being constructed within a reasonable time, and he thought it was too indefinite for them to rely upon. Mr Hood said that nothing could bo done for the coming Juno, but there might be something done for the following June. Mr Price : I have my doubts, j Mr Dewing :Do you know where the , source will be ? Mr Hood : Either Waihircre or Manga- , rueka. ! Mr Price said that he was in sympathy with Mr Hood’s idea, but he was afraid i that they would have to wait too long for , its realisation. As it was, he favored , spending the money on birds or fish. Mr Hood : All our income ? Mr Price : Our reserve fund. 3 Mr Hood : It would be a pity to thus do away with the reserve fund after there 3 has been so much trouble in building it

up. Mr Price : If the reservoir were likely to be constructed within six to twelve months, your proposal would be all right. Mr Hood : We will never have that reserve again. It is a pity to spend on trout a sum that has taken years to accumulate. The President (Mr Finn) said that it could be accumulated again in two or three years. Mr W. W. Smith : But it surely would not take more than half that amount to do what Mr Hood suggests ? Mr Hood said that the hatchery would not cost a great deal, but they would require to have a competent man in charge for at least three months. Mr Dewing: Yes; for longer—six months.

Mr Hood : We could keep the trout for two years, instead of turning them out to be caught by eels. Mr Kenway raised the question as to why fry should be obtained, when it was so much more reliable, he thought, and less expensive to obtain ova. Mr Hood said that the Government had successfully stocked Waikaremoana with live fry. Mr Chambers: A great many have been turned out in the district successfully. The President said that about 100,000 ova had been distributed in this district. Mr Chambers said that he would try to put another complexion on the discussion. They had, he said, spent a great deal of money in trying to stock the rivers with trout. l?o doubt that trout had been seen, mostly big ones ; but he held that it was impossible "to stock papa streams with trout. The river beds were too dirty for 'the hatching of the ova. It was all right where the stream ran to a rocky bottom, but the main streams in this district wore dirty for the greater part of the year. He had looked up the opinions of the best authorities on_the subject, and those opinions were to" the effect that trout could not live unless there were clean gravel beds to breed in. There was no such thing as a clean gravel bed from the East Cape to Wairoa. What gravel there is, is covered with papa, giving the water the color of cream. Mr G. Watson: That is what kills them. Mr Chambers said that before discussing what they would do with the funds, ho would like the point cleared up as to whether the streams were suitable for trout. Mr Clark said that, as a matter of fact, trout always went up. stream to spawn. Mr Chambers said that did not apply to New Zealand, and he instanced the ease of the Waitaki. It was stated by members that the fish went to the tributaries of the Waitaki to spawn. Mr Chambers said that it did not alter his argument—the gravel in the Waitaki was clean gravel. If the ova was once covered with fine silt it was killed—the hatcheries showed that distinctly. Mr Clark : The fact is that trout will travel up the stream—they will not spawn in dirty water. Mr Hood : The Mangatu is clean ? Mr Chambers : Yes, Mr Grant said the Maoris had said they had seen plenty of trout there, but he had never been able to see any. Mr Chambers said that anyway they had done enough in experimenting. The only way for them to do was to get a scientific opiuion on the matter, as to whether trout would live in dirty water, or water not always clean, or what fish was the best suited for such streams. Mr Kenway said he was prepared to second the motion, though he did not agree with it altogether. Mr Price proposed an amendment that, as the past experiments in regard to fish had been so unsatisfactory, a sum of £SO be spend on importing birds this season— Virginian quail for preference—and that the balance be held over until fufther information was obtained. Mr Redstone seconded the amendment. Mr Kenway raised the qhestion as to whether it would be advisable to import deer, a subject on which he would like to hear an expression of opinion. Mr Chambers said that raised another question as to what kind of deer. Fallow deer were worse than rabbits in Invercargill. (Laughter.) That was an exaggeration, but the fact was that farmers shot them down right and left. One man, who had a big farm, had stated that he had shot 800 deer as vermin. Red deer were not so dangepoqs, but if was stated that they were doing damage to the turnip crops in the Wairarapa. Mr Stopford : They have to shoot them down in. some places. The President : We must be careful not to introduce anything that would be objectionable. Mr Hood said that in the west of England the stags did an immense amount of damage. He did not think they would do any hann in the Waikaremoana, but he did not think their children would bless those who had liberated the deer there. The President: They may spread to this district. Mr Hood : We can leave that responsibility to the Government. Mr Clark said they must remember they were all getting older, and there was no use in holding over money in the way proposed. He thought that there were ample funds to get quail and still leave plenty for trout. As to deer, it would be waste of time and money to take that in hand. A good deal of money had been expended in trying to stock the rivers with trout, but they had funds in hand, and it would pay them to spend a little more in experimenting on such streams as that of Tc Arai, which ran through the bush, and where he believed trout would thrive. There were also other places where they might try. He Amoved that £SO be spent on importing quail, and £SO for live trout.

Mr Martin Smith seconded the motion. Some discussion then took place as to whether ova or fry should be imported. Mr Price withdrew his amendment on Mr Clark altering the amounts stated to X4O each for quail and fish, and the amendment was then carried by 9 to 4, and the motion rejected. Mr Chambers said that before giving effect to the -resolution they should ascertain whether the fish would thrive in the geological formation of this district. Mr Clark playfully asked what was the formation, and Mr Chambers quickly replied “ Tertiary.” Mr Kenway said that Hangaroa and the Motu were the most likely places for trout, and it would be out of the question to take fry lip there. .Mr Clark said he could not see that. If they wanted first-class fish they would go to the Waikaremoana, which was not much further than the Motu, but it was a long way to have to go to fish. The President : It would be a long way to have to bring the fish back. (Laughter). Mr Clark : Those who do not mind the distance can get fish in the Waikaremoana River. I would like to have something nearer at hand. Mr Chambers supported Mr Clark’s view as to distance. He said he did not believe in walking ten miles to shoot at a pheasant and then to miss it. (Laughter.) Mr Redstone brought up the question of destroying hawks, and it was left to the Council to decide as to whether somothtng should be given for the destruction of hawks.