Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. " NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1880.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XXII, Issue 4100, 23 April 1880, Page 2

Wanganui Chronicle AND PATEA-RANGITIKEI ADVERTISER. " NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 1880.

The report of the Acclimatisation Society for the year ending April, ]880, is a satisfactory record of patient progress, and _ especially as regards tlie introduction of fish into the various rivers and minor streams of the district. This latter branch of the work which the Society has taken in hand does not, in our opinion, seem to evoke that degree of sympathy and encouragement to which it is entitled We are not now looking at the question from a sportsman's point of view, though a good deal miyht be said on that head in support, of the Society's efforts. Anythiug which tends to increase the food supply of tho people is worthy of notice and by the introducton of the better sorts of fish, and their wide distribution throughout New Zealand waters, a vast

boon is being conferred on persons o£ all ranks and occupations. Opinions may differ with regard to the advisability of attempting the acclimatisation of certain birds and beasts, but against tho fish nothing, so far as we are aware, can be urged. They are pure gain to the colony, and after their introduction in such numbers as to give them a fair start, their increase is likely to be so rapid that in the course of a feir years they may reasonably be expected to become a cheap article of every day consumption. This cannot be, or at least ought not to be, regarded as a matter of small importance in a country where the cost of living is high. Taking this view of the case, we can cordially congratulate the Wauganui Society on the success of their last year's work in the introduction and distribution both of young fish and fish ova. The Society arc labouring iv a quiet unobtrusive manner, but they are, nevertheless, conferring a lasting benefit of immense magnitude on the community at large. We are afraid we cannot write in like terms of praise with regard to their efforts iv some other directions. The introduction of rabbits into New Zealand has done infinitely more harm than good, an! no one who has lived in a district infested by them would regret their extirpation. Hares are said not to be such pests as rabbits, but this is merely because they do not breed so rapidly, aud can therefore more easily be kept down. Speaking from experience, we say that individually the hare does far more damage to crops than the rabbit, and it has been asserted, we cannot say with what truth, that they multiply far faster in New Zealand than in England. The Society are engaged at the present time in an attempt to introduce them into the Wanganui district, and we greatly fear that in a few years they will regret the success of the experiment. In a new and sparsely populated country the hares will multiply at an alarming rate, and the damage they will do will, we believe, far outweigh any corresponding advantage which, may be derived from them either in the way of sport, as an article of food, or from the sale of their skins. We fear their introduction will prove a mistake, though it may take some years to place the matter beyond dispute. There is not much more to be said about last year's operations of the Society. During the ensuing twelve months the funds at their disposal will be almost entirely devoted to the introduction of salmon, in which direction we wish them plenty of success. We ought to add that the Society are under a great obligation to Mr H. M. Brewer, the Hon- Sec, for the intelligent interest he has always displayed in the work of the Society, especially in the introduction of various kinds of fish. It will be remembered that some months since we published a short account of the hatching apparatus, which, in the heart of the town, has been successfully worked under his skillful management.