AUCKLAND ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3016, 27 March 1867, Page 5

AUCKLAND ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY .

, A,t,]the close of $he aiboy?, mpptipg^the nojetflbjew of v the ( ;.Crf^r^^ , Hptel, ;io,r 7 Jhe, v i)i}rpDfie(i 10 0f 1t he^rinjer .fltatementsfrom a,depiijba,t}qn, of .the Acclimatisation apjto^ij^e.objeclsr w^clji-,iibj»li SppifijyHd«B: f«d to accpmplisb^., .I'he'.ff^fclendance^^^jfl^Ror'^s.; i^he ( followmg* ,gep«€im^ iL 'j*tt?n^ed\. l^.r ti? idepflt^tion ;— Mie^r?. ?. ..Mipftf.Wffideitli/ Mr. John Wallace, Flat Buih, presided, and briefly introduced the object of the meeting.

Mr. Gillies said the Secretary and several members of the Acclimaii-ation Society along with himself, had been deputed by the Society, to take that opportunity of meeting with the country settlers of that district to endeavour to enlist their interest and support in tbe objects of the Sooiety, to a«k their assistance in the work in which they Were engaged— a work which he believed to be a good work iu regard to the country generally, as well as one that was absolutely einential in the jr >• sent state of the country — absolutely necessary to the existence of the farmers. (Hear.) They had heard it stated that the farmers looked at least with apathy* if not with suspicion, upon the Society, and said it w*a a Hbam, and, like many Auckland schemes, merely a flash in tbe pan, and would go down, and that it was for the benefit of the town rather than the country. They bad oome there that day to state what the objects of the Society were, what measures they had taken, and what they hoped to attain by the assistance of tbe country settlers. They knew perfectly well that it was absurd for a few persona in town to attempt anything of that sort. (Bear.) Without the co-operation of the country settlers they could do nothing. They had come to say that they weje engaged in a work for the benefit, of the country settlers, and that it was, a mistake to suppose that they were engaged in a work for their own benefit in the town, but that it was » work in which the country people, above all others, i should feel interested. They did not say the country Settlers alone, because every man in New Zealand-wag interested in having animals and plants introduced into New Zealand, whether a town settler or a, country settler. It was a pleasant thing even , for a dweller in town to Bee sparrows and swallows flying about ; even were they tip benefit, it was pleasant to see them. The interests of the town settler and country settler were really identical] what benefits the one must benefit the other, — what benefits the one must be advantageous to the other. The Society was called the Acclimatisation Society. Well, that perhaps did not properly express in. the first instance the objects of the Society. To accli>\ matise was,, as they were all aware, in the strict sense of the word, to adapt to this climate plants, or animals from other countries where the climate was different from the climate of this country, so that to acclimatise properly was a work of a very -long time. To change the nature, habits, and organism of plants and animals was not the work theywere engaged in in the first (instance, although they may even hope <to attain to • that ultimately. Their object was to do what they had all been doing in their proper person — to colonise — to colonise this country with animals and plants from other countries of such similar climate to our own as would enable them to live here without a very great deal of trouble being taken with them to change their organism or habits. He should think that most of them would recognise the necessity in this country of colonising both plants and animals. There was no wild country in the world in Which' the climate was so good, so like to many other 'climates, combining perhaps the best portion' of. both tropical and arctic and temperate regions — combining' them all in ' a small portion of country'— no climate superior to ours for that purpose ; and yet there is no , country in, which there were fewer plants and animals fitted for the fqod of man — very few countries in which they found fewer native animals and planbs fitted for the sustenance of man. Now, if they were to support a large population, they were to support them, not merely ,by artificial produce; as he might say not mere'y by grain, coWs, cattle, and sheep.' They mast not expect to support the 'population- merely by these j but they should take advantage' of the natural' character of < 'the country, its climate, and give food 1 for man. There were many animals introduced; and now wild in this country— introduced • by . the first" coloniser, by the discoverer 'of this- country,' Captain 'Cook. Those \ animals-Were running wild, and produced' immense quantities of food for man. • Other colonists as they caraeintroduced food for' man in the shape of grain and grasses, and the domestic .animals. 'What did ithey find ? They ! f oWd that-r- this year •it had dome .under his own notice— these grasses and grain that they had taken! such' trouble in introducing} and cultivating had proved comparatively unproductive. Andwhy? Because insect life had' destroyed them ,to a very large 'extent. "Now it was the- object of the Society to check the ravages of that insect' life. Perhaps, some may say ifc/ij absurd j; what can the introduction of a few birds or a. few animals dp' in a district where there was such a' mass , of caterr 1 pillars,?' It was difficult to put the fingeV and say 'one' • bird eats so many caterpillars in a day j that'Vas , ( veiy difficult; buK there- were facts to jprota that there was nothing like , birds for de-. straying caterpillars, larvae of insects, and winged insects. In France, a country densely populated and highly cultivated by small farmers, .the ravages of insects were so great that actually the Senate there was petitioned by tbe people to make laws for the protection of , insect destroying birds., ;in order to check the ravages' of insects. He might refer to one or two extracts he had made of facts as to the effect of birds in ' checking the ravages of insects, and to satisfy the most sceptical that the introduction of insect-destroying birds would be of immense r value to the farmer. The Paris ' correspondent' of the Times gives the summary of a' report read in the Senate on four petitions praying tbat measures might be taken to preserve birdsthat destroy insects hurtful to agriculture.' The report is an, amusing essay on, insect-eating birds —their habits, anatomy, and species of food. It treats at length of the Tavages. of insects, and, the importance to man of the objects, they destroy :'- France is infested with thousands otspeoiea.of inieots of terrible fruitfulness, nearly all of which prey on what should serve the purposes of, man. > The first section of the .report states that the wireworm consumed £160, 000, worth of.com in one department ' alone, and was the cause of the three deficient harvests which preceded 1856. Oat of 504 grains of colza, gathered at hazard at Versailles, all but 206 bad been rendered wortbleso by'inseeta. The reduction of yield was 32 '8 per cent. In Germany, according to Latrille, the .phalena monacha consumed whole , forests. In East Prussia, three years ago, more than 24,000,000 cubic metres ofjfira had to be, out down, because the trees were attacked by inaeots. Man is unable to cope with these destroyers of the produce of his labour ;< his eye is too dull to see, and his baud too slow to catch them ; without the aid of birds he would be vanquished in the struggle. The commis■sion exolud* birds of pray, such as magpies, ravens, &ei, with the exception of buzzards and rooks, from the benefit of its protection, because the buzzard con^ sumes about 6,000 mice yearly, and the rook an incalculable amount of white worms. Sparrows are rehabilitated, and their usefulness shown in reference • to the fact that, when their destruction was attempted in Hungary, winged insecti increased bo rapidly that rewards for the destruction of sparrow* were suppressed,' and given for bringing them back. Frederick the Great ordered the destruction of sparrows because they ate his cherries, butin two years' time he found his. cherries and all other fruits consumed by, eaterpillars. In a sparrow's nest on a terrace in the, Rue Vivienne were found the remains of 700 cockchafers, < the larvca of which turn to wireworms— the greatest enemy the farmer and gardener have to contend with. Owls and birds of that clasß, which agricultural ignorance pursues as birds of evil omen, ought to be.welcomed.. They are ten times more useful than tih^beat cats, and nofc dangerous to thejarder. i.The martens that were killed were found to have in their stomachs the remains of 543 insects. In order, to protect these iniect-destroyers, the report proposes the prohibition of all'means of destroying birds, save,, by fire-arms, and the' prohibition of bird-nesting and destruction of eggs >or young birds. ' A correspondent, of the » Times says, "It has .been obvious , to all who have : had the opportunity and, , opacity.to. obserye that, 1 during'the last few<yefcrB>. that the: small i birds have . decreased considerably. f In a like ratio, insects of the most destructive kinds ,b*ye increased. .Lhave had excellent .means ,of 5 Mpwing thatiin various parts of the county of Kent whole crops ,of fruit,, vegetables,.- and. grain ;haye, been, swept off entirely by various kinds,, of minute insects^ which 1 the; birds alone are competent, to detect and destroy, and which not. one. man.- in, » hundred knows .anything, About. Men, see,_rthe^r hopes .blasted, , but they believe , ill . wjnd jh»s , blown & 'blighV f pr .under .that Vague temW designate all juchi evils. . -. In no localities., have,, insects done so muoh injury,, to the, fruit as where 'aparrowrcW »« Established, ,and where birds are indiscriminately, and systematically exterminate^. For example, at a' village, ,in Kent, pra^,. are giro, for the heads of sparrows,, titmousej., ,. and. pther, birds,, which, feed almost, exclusively. on insgets andj their Jarvje., The gardens in j that locality are very, extensive,. and. Vre ..chiefly with, plum-trees. In 1858, .they, promised an. extra abundant crop,, but long , before . the fruit was matured the, 1«V«, ,qf the, winter moth, upon which the,. birds, especially the. titmouse, feed, consumed., always ' the entire crop. The birds had .been] desftpjed.*', Abojs jour/years ago an insect which appeared some-' '^bingjjke a cat3rpiUar, but more of the nature o| a' ' tad'Rol'e or sing,; which had destroyed! milei of tßtOTn^' hedge* in Wellington, appeared in, his (Mr. g.Js) gai den anrDupedin, l and..atie < up the, cherry, .plum, ansipipach lea,^, rapidly. -.He-ifcie^Yarimis, experinwnjbi, l^ could not find anything successful. One day ». swarm of little bird*- ft small bird— with ft

white ting under iw eye-appeared m hi. garden, and the next morning there was not one insect to be found in fclie garden, and hia crop tm wed. They must not a sspiae the efficacy . f ■mall birds-thej,ean devour, innumerable myriads of insects. II th Society was supported they irould be enabled to ►introduce inieot-destroying birds, which would be » great boon to the farmers in that localry and other placea. 1 hey had already a good many ■übscri>.eri, principally in town. The subscriptions and donations amounted to £300 or £40 >. ihe annual subscriptions only amounted to £124 a year. »nat would not "Upportany extended operations to send birds into the uountry distrioK I heir desire was, in proportion as any district subscribed to support their operations, in like proportion would they send birds into that district to gr«w and multiply therein, Ihey asked the people to support them not merely by their mdhey ; the mere subscription was a little thing ; they wanted them to take an interest in the Society, and to form branch societies among themselves, to elicit facts on the subject of acclimatisation, and communicate with the Parent ociety, which would endeavour tadothe business part in gejbting birds and animals fivm different places and distributing them throughout different parts of the.province. tie hoped they would see that they were asked to interest themselves in what was, lie would not say quite as important, but as immediately important to themselves as the cyuperintendency question. (Hear and cheers.) Mr. BUBTT also addressed the meeting in support oE the objects of the Society. He remembered in Berkshire, his native country, the farmers formed a sparrow club, and killed the sparrows in every way possible. „ Next year the crops were destroyed and the hedges all bare, and >»fter that they let the sparrows alone. The aid of the country settlers was required not only in subspribing money, but to prevent the destruction of 'birds when introduced. It behoved every settler as far a* he conld to act » B a sort of keeper. In forming a local society in Otahuhu, as he had no doubt they wtfuld, to co-operate with the Auckland committee, every settler should pledge himself not to allow poaching, but to prosecute ereryone poaching. .If they ; did that, they would do a great deal towards preventing the wholesale destruction of birds in the country. , There was no use in introducing birds unless they were, protected. Without funds very little" . good could be done. The first step to , be . taken , by the Society is to commence operations in the Domain^ bo that when birds cosae from a long voyage they may have a place to be put into get strength of wing before being started in the colony. It was decided at the last meeting of the committee that nothing should be done until a larger amount of money : were received. Every settler should do what he could to destroy the hawk; the process was simple—by poisoning them. ,He bad destroyed hundreds of them by putting strychnine on the offal of sheep. He had nothing further to add to what Mr. -Gillies had stated. They had declared war against the caterpillar, and had come out there to .dance their war dance. , (Laughter and applause,) Mr. Mackskvib made.* few. appropriate remaplra, and urged upon those present to show their appreciation of the objects^f the Society, by entering their > names as subscribers, j Mr. Maclean said he had .recently been at the Hutt, at.WeUingtou, and hiaaWeution was called to the. ravages of slugs in thprnhedges. , The thorn, was imported from Tasmania,\afldi Mr. Ludjam had recommended '. him not to get any -from that country. He ,would. observe, that the ciiqjtet waa very.pfentiful here a few/jears ago. He knew a gentleman;who had a. very nice-garden, and. would not keep .fowls. His dwelling-house,. was .so infested, that clothing, &c, was eaten by them. ,He (Mr. M.) recommended hipa to keep poultry, and the crickets .vanished. The, crickets were disappearing,- and ,in ,the neighbourhood j. ,of dwelling-houses , where poultry 'were kept ithey were .seldom,, seen. •Turkeys.; and .pheasants, destroy 'them 1» » great extent. The pheasant was as /useful a bird as could be imported, and care should be taken to, (protect them. In, the crop of a pheasant, killed at the North Shore there wero 80 crickets, and some of them, alive. Pheasantß will destroy the moth that produces • the caterpillar.: ■ .Rooks i also destroy the caterpillar. The , country , settlers should feel in* debted to the gentlemen in Auckland for taking up the matter as they had done, as,it was/nptsomuchfor their benefit as for the ben,est O& the settlei;s.r The necessity for the existence of such a Society ;was mapifesk, Laat Reason tfiere, ,waa, worth of property "destroyed by ,the f ravages, of the .caterpillar, which was' a great jq'ss to the farmers rand to the prpyinceJ , They A should feel much.,' indebted to ? the gentlemen ~ forming the ; deputation/ for- great , interest they had taken in promoting" the success of th'eSociety. (Applause.) "*,,., T .. Mr. Styak said he shquld .be sorry that any apathy should be manifested towards, the Society by the country settlers.- !He thought "that meeting was an evidence that' such would not t be the case. Knowing similar societies "to have succeeded so well in. other' countries, and the'ainpu'nt of jgood they had done, he gladly became a member oj ti}e Auckland Society, and subscribed, and he hoped others would do the same/ (fiear,~beaf ) Mr. Cbkighton said a few, words. He urged upon the settlers in country, districts the necessity of collecting facts with regard to the habits of New Zealand birds and insects. The effect of climatic changes in' developing insect life ought to be carefully noted and sent to the central Society. By this means a' fund of very useful-knowledge would be collected, which would assist the promoters of acclimatisation, and aid the country settlers in their daily labours.. He thought' too little attention was paid to 'native birds, which, from their> habits, fell »n easy prey to the cats and rats which infested the uncultivated districts. For instance, he noticed the groundlark, which was a most valuable insectivorous bird, and would inprease rapidly bnt for the hawk and oat. The fan-tail, "although a very small bird, was 'a" 1-*1 -* great enemy of the 'oaterpillar and winged insects ; ' and so also was the Skiugnsberi These birdrfought to be preserved by all means, inaamuoh as they only require protection make them increase very rapidly. Money w*» very necesswy to the Society, but he thought he had pointed out another direotion in, which the interests of the Acclimatisation Society might be promoted by the country settlers independent of subscriptions, (Hear.) ■• ■ Mr. Bbver*pge next addressed the meeting, advocating the interest of the Society. The »ucoea« of country settlement depended mainly on the success of this and kindred associations. He trusted those gentlemen who had'assisted'iri laying the foundation of Otahuhu, and who made it what it was, would support this Society. Mr. A. Martin moved > a vote"' of thanks to the gentlemen who had come from Auckland as a deputation to advocate the claim of the'Aoclimatisation Sooiety. He hoped funds would be liberally forthcoming. • Mr. W. T. Basseep ' seconded , the motion, and , ntade a few appropriate remarks upon the importance ,of such a Society, and the great benefits it wai calculated to confer upon the country districts. > Mr. B: Robertson 1 recommended that i lists for subscriptions be immediately opened, and that collectors should be appointed to solicit subscriptions. The vote of thanks ~wa& adopted, when M*. 1 John Gobdon moved, stad : MrvJ.AMK3 RuNcnu.* seconded, v resolution' to theeffect that the meeWg-> pledged itself to support the cause of the AcoKmSiiuiation Society, and forward it 'by every practical 1 means. J 'This resolution having been adopted, the meeting 'separated Several subscriptions were' 'promised.

' 'HoBiOBLB'SuPEBSxmbN.r-Trie Attadaltforma of 27th' Octdber wys :— "Some months jsince, a man caking, h'Welf a spiritual docftry-the city is ' bVcflmmg"oyeri;un, with .Such hiunb'ugß— came here 'from- "Victoria in' comp^n/with a woman, and her ,'littlß^ftu^er, sbme, tin years of age. The woman, We are^nformed, left a husband, ( the father of the "dhiTd,' in'Victom., "Bpth.'.the ,m»n .and the woman were affected with spimualiam, and something put putiif'intp'tlieir J -'neadjs > l feat,;if the. woman would 'subiriirto starration; un, >tx> { * certain point, «he would bQ.deyelqped,, into a^seeing, medium.' ; She : detOTminea to t Eerself^bp the work ; abstained 1 from'fbod untfl Bh'e up, took to her 'hea; i n a persisted ul the effort to attainthe," beatific ppin't tuntil'dM^i^TeleAMd ttie poor ywtim of s ;wi<?ked impoiijore from mortal' sufferings". 'It would fcVnutUafcural. tb| suppose that the man— if he can be called such— would" have (]become-s»tißned ( of the criininal^ollyyf his p^ce'e^n^'bj this *ime, and would' aeßlst from 'further/operations of the kind. 'Infltead' o^ tid* 1 however,- rthe '^its depanded 'another victim; and 1 assured him that if he would subject, the child to, thesame, treatment to which tto mother was subjected.' the 'progress maxfe by the 1 mother towMs'tiie desired point wMd be credited to" the'' child, ' and she 1 " wouW J become ' a feeing medium' 'in a short tim€ "TKe'cfi'il'd was »6tuallx ! pia&Cl uodcr the starvation 'treitme'nfc, ,bdt tha ''nei g h'kiurs,becoimngitfdigna4t,putasto'pt6th;ematter yesterday by taking o"tt>a Vartaut f^the arrest of the ohUd/and herexamini«;l6n for th^i^duitrial' .school. The ch^dwastafien^ custody l^tjeTenuifir, and taken to the county 'gaol.^aiiff pliw id roe jsustod "3 tHe^gobd 1 mairoii ofthV 'eittbEshmenlii^ ixmdin the examination. This is in A, d. 1864.