ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

Globe, Volume III, Issue 297, 26 May 1875, Page 2

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

The usual monthly meeting of the Council of the Acclimatisation So iety was held yesterday afternoon, at the Public Library. Present —Messrs H. B. Johnstone (chairman), Wallace, Farr (hon secretary), Wool treasurer), Bird, and Colonel Packe. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. A letter was read from James Coleman asking that he might be employed by the society to destroy hawks and other vermin ; ihe society to pay his expenses for carrying out a system of destruction in a systematic manner. The secretary was instructed to decline Mr Coleman’s offer,

A letter was read from Mr W, Jameson, enquiring whether the society would entertain an application for the purchase of half a dozen of the birds recently imported, but without the condition that they are to be turned out. The secretary was instructed to reply in the terms of the resolution passed by the Council at a previous meeting. A letter was read from Mr Charles Reed, of Westerfield, stating that he bad been expecting to receive a reply to his application asking that the starlings he had presented the society in England might be turned out at Westerfield. The secretary said that he had written to Mr Reed, but his letter must have miscarried. It was decided to hand over the • starlings to Mr. Reed to be liberated as asked, if that gentleman.will send for them. A letter was read from Mr R. Dawber, German Bay, asking the price of yellow hammers and other birds to members of the society, The secretary said he had forwarded a list of prices to Mr Dawber. On the motion of Colonel Packe it was resolved to recommend Mr Robert Mackay, of RainclifE Station, to his Honor the Superintendent, for appointment as ranger. The following reports from the curator were read : “ Report for May. —Receipts from subscriptions, May, £5 13s; receipts by sale of English birds, £235 10s 6d; total, £241 3s 6d. Expenses in May, including expense attending landing of birds, extra food, Is each paid on 296 hawks and shags, and wire netting, &c, for salmon cage, £34 16s 8d ; expenses paid by curator procuring salmon ova from the ship Timaru, absent from home one month: the passage to the Bluff by steamer was granted free by the agents, Messrs Dalgetty and Co, of Christchurch, £l7 10s lOd; salary of curator up to 31st March, £43 15s; canary seed for English birds, £3 2s 8d; (J. Goss) timber (old account in May, 1874), authorised, but not paid, £4 3s lid; J. L. Fleming, timber, since May, 1874, £3 7s 3d ; estimated monthly expenses for June, £ls. The total number of hawks brought to the gardens amounts to 316, including twenty presented by Sir J. C. Wilson. A large portion of the birds ex the Tintern Abbey have been disposed of, in accordance with the wishes of the council, on the undsrstandthat the birds should be liberated at once. The following is the list of purchasers : Timaru Acclimatisation Society, £l3O ; Sir J. C. Wilson, £39 Its; G. Buckley, £23 5s ; G. Holmes, £3O; J. L. Coster, £6; J. G. Bluett, £6; W. D. Wood, £6; Mrs Watts Russell, £4 10s; J. Williams, £3: Parker, £3. The few odd cock birds have been sold at £1 each, without restriction of liberating. Should the council consider it undesirable to dispose, of any of the remaining birds to those who have suitable aviaries, but do not intend to liberate them, the curator would suggest that the stock on hand be divided amongst the above purchasers, for liberation at once, including in the list Mr C. O. Reed, who paid £5 for the in England, and who also paid £SO to the society last year, but did receive a full equivalent in birds. The number of birds remaining unsold amounts to 329, including one pair of bullfinches presented by Mr H, Bills. The proposed site for a fish enclosure in the Avon at the Island, is 96ft long, 29ft broad at one end, and 48ft at the other. The 10s fine refunded to Mr Deacon, jun, has been presented to the society by that gentleman towards a fund for erecting a fish ladder at Lane’s Mill. Nets have been procured, and arrangements made for catching some of the hares’jand quail for sale to country members. “ Report on the Salmon Ova, by A. M. Johnson (Curator). —Out of the four boxes of salmon ova presented the society by the Otago Government, and brought out in the ship Timaru from England, about 150 eggs were placed in the hatching boxes. The appearance of these eggs from the first gave little hope, as no signs of impregnation could be detected, and they have now all gone bad. The only eggs observed by the curator out of the entire shipment as offering a fair chance of success were about 300 of the charr, for the Otago society, but from recent accounts from the curator, Mr F. Deans, it appears that the prospect of rearing any seems doubtful. Captain Rankin, of the Timaru, states, ‘ The box containing the charr eggs was packed in the centre of the top tier of the salmon boxes’—so probably the charr and trout eggs were not exposed to the intense cold, as the other eggs. The present shipment of salmon ova has been packed in a manner different to all the other previous shipments—the ova boxes being placed in the centre of the ice-house, and consequently frozen ; whilst in other shipments the boxes were laid at the bottom* so that the melted ice flowed over the eggs. The condition of the charr eggs, however, demonstrates that this latter plan is not absolutely necessary. Three of the boxes received by the society were about 140 days in the ice, reckoning from the time of shipping to when the eggs were deposited in the hatching troughs; the other box was about 127 days in the ice and presented a little better appearance, the length of time was, however, sufficient to destroy vitality. In the previous year’s shipmentthe eggs were 120 days in the ice, and then only 40 healthy fish were hatched out of 25,000 eggs. The question therefore still remains unsettled as to whether freezing in a dry state destroys or simply retards vitality. Several improvements were noticeable in the present shipment, especially with regard to the boxes, which were charred inside and fitted with trays, so that a very much larger number of eggs could be sent without danger of injury from the weight of sodden dead moss. The ice, which was artificial, was found to be united in one solid block, only a small proportion of which was melted. Should any future attempts on a similar plan be made of introducing salmon and other varieties of trout, either from England or America, the curator would suggest that a most important desideratum would be the construction of an ice house possessing the following advantages ;—lst, Size, just sufficient to hold ice enough to keep through the voyage, and at the same time to be portable. By this plan, in addition to other advantages, two shipments might be sent out from England at no more expense than one large one 2nd, The house to be constructed with a top opening to admit ■■ the ice, an also one at the side for the boxes, the ice resting on a perforated false bottom;this would enable the boxes to be packed and removed • without subjecting the ova to injury from concussion during the storeing and breaking out of the ice. 3rd. Inside airangements to be such that no offensive odour can injure the eggs, whilst provision is

made for the escape of the melted ice. 4. Arrangements in construction of house, both inside and outside, to prevent injury to the eggs from concussion. The experience of this and other shipments leads to the conviction that the reason why so very small a proportion of even good looking ova ever reaches the Antipodes, lies in the fact f hat no suitable provision has ever been made against injury by concussion at the early and most critical period of the egg life, such, for instance, as the concussion occasioned by the loading of the ice and the bumping of the vessel during rough weather. With a view to properly carrying out all the details of construction, as suggested from actual experience, it-would probably be well worth the additional cost)of freight and material to have the ice house made in the colony, thereby also lessening some of the care and trouble, which has been and may be again so generously bestowed by Dr Buckland, Mr Youl, and others in England, in their efforts to introduce the salmon and trout to the New Zealand waters. May the next attempt be a grand success, at which we may all rejoice greatly.” After reading the reports, the secretary desired to say that Mr C. Turner had told him that he had two vessels leaving for San Francisco in about a mon th,returning also from there, nnd if an ice house could be arranged, he would be happy to give the society every assistance in getting out salmon ova from that country. The items in the reports were passed, and both reports approved. Mr Bird moved— ■“ That a sum of sixpence per head for hawks and shags be substituted for one shilling in the resolution passed by the council on the 6th April last.” Colonel Packe seconded the resolution, which was agreed to. The Secretary mentioned that he had written to the Domain Board, asking for permission to fence in a portion of the river referred to in the report, but had not yet received any reply. The council then adjourned.