SALMON.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume I, Issue 14, 3 October 1861, Page 3

SALMON.

(rrom the Canterbury .Prm, Pent. 7.) Salmon appear to he attract ine' as mui'h alt cut ion in t.nsland at tin's moment as in A uslraha, ar.d cnr renders will find an article well worth their etten'ien in our columns of to-day, taken from the Time.?. The truth is there set forth in sinculary w'tlv and attractive hmuraio, tlir.t of all (! c wealth which nature be-tows on a na'itm, wholly unaided by art or labor, harddy me can compare with the gift of sa'mon. j'roeably no animal increases with the same rapidity. A shade *almon is said to produce upwards of Tfi.CtlO young fish yearly; a rate of propagation winch would, one would thud:, at some no remote period till the seas with a solid mass offish, were it not that no animal lias more numerous enemies, inc’uding even the old sa'mon, who feed, it is said on the fry without snarne or remor-e, .Bui the pemd-ar invnorfance of salmon to Kew Zealand is th rived tram our local position. It appears that salmon cannot live ercept in cold waters. They are nowhere found nearer the line than front-10deg. to T< deg. oflatitnde. In Turopo the snhnen found furthest south inhabit the streams which flow out, of the mountains on tlie north coast of J-’pain. It is therefore natural to suppose that sa’mon cv.inol be introduced into the largest part of Au-tral’n. The sonth of Tasmania is probably the lowest latitude in which they will thrive. To the Middle Island of New Zealand then, and to Tos-

mania, will belong the monopoly of supplying tho whole Australian continent with this abundant and clelijiouj too h There will be no difOculty in conveying the liali in ice Irom this island either to Melbourne or Sydney, and, were it not so, there would be a large and constantly increasing market in tic's colony, which would amply repay the cost 0 in r jducing them. Kowour readers will probably remember that this subject was brought bolore the (Government of this Province in the year IboD. Put they may not probably be aware of tne steps which have been taken since that time and ol the result oi tho last experiment, which, although it tailed, must be said to have been in ono sense successful, The committee in whose hands tlie conduct of tbe experiment was placed determined to make the attempt with fresh spawn. In tne previous year some tentative experiments were made with spawn in the Crystal T’nlaee, the object being to ascertain tho time in which the eggs are hatched in water at different temperatures. It was lound that tho following conditions must bo fulfilled in order that the tish may be preserved during the voyage. (!.) Tho eggs must be placed in a very shallow stream of fresh running water, and mu.-t never be exposed wholly to the air. This, of course involves machinery by which the motion of the ships must be wholly or nearly obviated. '(■'.) The water must bo constantly icrated, or supplied with that admixture of air which it loses by lying in a Sank or other vessel. (3.) Tho temperature of the water must- not rise above 45 degrees; at GO degrees the spawn dies : and at a much lower temperature it is prematurely hatched It is obvious, therefore, that to obtain a small but constant sir.ant ot ireslt water, running over a surface kept from rolling with the motioii a of the ship and maintained at a temperature of from 40 degrees to -In degrees for tlnec months, during a month cf wl ieh the ordinary temperature of such water wcu'd be To degrees, presented a problem 01 very- great diliiculty. It may’ be said however ■ to bo overeomtrjthe plan adopted having succeeded in principle, anyl having failed solely by an accident. A\ itbout entering into a minute explanation of all the arrangements made, we may state that tho eggs, about 30,000 in number, were placed in stoneware dishes or plate.-, made for the purpose, on the surface of which were little indentations or cep s , in each ot whicit a single egg was placed. h .'so plates were placed in f roughs, fixed one under ih; other; so that water after running over the Lr.-t trough dropped into the second, and so on to the lowest. The whole be ng fixed in a frame, and suspended in a poop cabin, something after the manner of a compass, so as to remain constantly horizontal. The ires!i w ater flowed from a reservoir erected on tin* deck, and after running over' toe fish was received in a vessel below, from which it was agam pumped up into the reservoir: the same water was u.-cd for a certain number of davs wb.cn it was cnanged for a fresh supply. It was kept at a low temperature by being passed in a pipe tlnvugh an ice-house provid’d for the purpose The result teas entirely successful, until by accident the sea broke into (lie reservoir, spoiling tho uv-h water, and there not being a stifi’eient supply in the snip to remedy tins disa.-tcr, recourse was bad to the tee itself, which was incited as wanted, i til the iev wa- a 1 used, and the fish died immediately on tic temperature of the water vising. Since, however, the spawn had been brought with remarkable success as far ns 23 decrees south latitude, that is to say, over the most dilllcull part of die voyage, the experiment cannot be said to have tailed. Ift d the eg;, s lived for ten days longer they^would in all probability have reached Tasmania in saf. t-. The total cost was about £GGO. ibis includes t te cabin, the wages of the man eraployed, and of men to pump up tho water daily, t.u; Lv.giit cj. tne ice, ana toe water, and the fittings. It was in i;\e latter that the failure occurred ; and it is probable that £I.OOO might be rei,,„ f,-... future experiment hi order to g. a"d a t nr accidents in future. Of the —i ..inagatg f mumittce who cuiuii'a ted that operation two Iron- left 'ingland, but Mr Yard of Tas. is still, we believe in Loudon, and is likely to remain there : and it was Mr. Youl who"actually superintend..-d the fitting of the apparatus on board ships. V.'e are informed that it is most likely Mr. h cul would, not refuse Ms services to superintend a similar experiment should if be thought lit to try it on hcbaii'ri lids Province. \\ e hope that so important a matter will be again taken up by the '.lowrmnont a.vl (lie Provincial (ouiicib if any men y can be spiral for (lie work. ’lhe original cost .if.Cl.lif'O and the annua! expense of artificial breeding pom’s s’milar to those at PI ormon! field, in .'-'catland, for a few years until all i.ur rivers \\ ere s;;"cc's-Tid!y stocked w ith fish, would be cube (rifiiug con; ared with the advantages wide!: would accrue to the Province. The pruspe t of a few days salmon fishing even as a sport and recreation, a part of (he economy of life in which (.'anterbnry is sadly defievnt, would alone amply repay the original cost ; but the ai tual remuneration in tho form of pleasant food and valuable export is really ineaV.uible.