ACCLIMATISATION GARDENS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16267, 18 July 1918, Page 7

ACCLIMATISATION GARDENS.

COLLECTION TO BE ABOLISHED

At the meeting of the North Canterbury .Acclimatisation Society last night, the report of the Gardens Committee came up for discussion, and it was recommended that the Council should take some action in getting rid ot some of the animals in the gardens. Mr E. F. Stead moved: "That the Society keep in the gardens no animals that it wouiu not like to see liberated. ' It was high time, said the mover, that the Society recognised that it was an Acclimatisation Society and not the proprietors of a zoological gardens or a circus. The squirrels, rabbits, monkeys, and pigeons were not only wortuless from an acclimatisation point of view, but ate a lot of valuable food. I'lte pheasants were also very unsuccessful, and he thought the Society should concentrate its efforts on the rearing of game birds like the quail, which would do well. If the Society concentrated on one breed of bird tor, I say, three years, it could then turn its attention to breeding another good i game bird. The present system was a I bad one, and though the small collection in the gardens might be of interest to the public, he thought the Society should stick to its function as an Acclimatisation Society and not tiy to I>e menagerie keepers. Professor Blunt seconded the motion. Mr P. J. De la Cour opposed the idea of clearing out the gardens. £1 he had his way he would like to see a pair of all Australian birds as well ns New Zealand birds in the gardens. He agreed that the gardens needed tidying up and re-arranging to a considerable extent. He moved, as an amendment"That all the animalß except the rabbits be retained." The amendment was seconded. Mr Hardcastle said the Society, with its reduced revenue, was not in a position to cany on work which had no useful end in view. He agreed that the paths should be put in order and that the runs where some of the birds were should be renovated. Mr Shand said it was true the Society only reared five quail last year, but that was because the room which they should have had was taken up by other animals. The pukeko in the gardens had done a lot of damage ay killing young ducks. Mr Hardcastle said the curator should not be empowered to accept any animals without the approval of the Council. If the public wanted a menagerie the Society would have to obtain some other source of revenue. As a matter of fact the public had not been good friends of the (Society, and a good deal of damage had been done in the gardens in one way and another. Mr Dorman said the farmers would not be pleased at auail being liberated Those birds only spread blackberry and other weeds, and most farmers would like to see all their necks wrung. He thought an effort should be made to obtain an even larger stock of birds and email animals in the gardens, and the collection would be both interesting and instructive. Mr De la Cour said they could never keep animals satisfactorily at the gardens unless the grounds were re-or-ganifed.

Mr Stead said it was not a question of the birds doing well in the gardens, it was a question of these birds doing well outside. Personally he would like to_ see a zoo in Christchurch, but ha maintained that it was not the function of the Society to establish it. He denied that quail could spread blarkberry. It was fruit-eating bicds like blackbirds and thrushes which were liable to spread the blackberry. They had no gizzards, and the seeils passed through them unchanged. This was not the case with quail, which had gizzards. The point in regard to nis motion , did not refer to what would pay the Society, but what the Society was actually empowered to do in the wav of acclimatisation.

The chairman said the public had little claiin on the Society, for the total amount it subscribed in the boxes per annum never exceeded £4, and seldom reached that amount.

The amendment was lost on being put, and the motion carried by a large majority.

t After further discussion it was decided that the arrangements made oy Mr De la Cour for obtaining shingle for the garden paths be approved. On Mr Hardcastle's motion, the Gardens Committee was instructed to bring down a report as to which animals were to be kept and which done away with and also as to what work of renovation should be carried out in the gardens.