REVIEW.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6572, 9 December 1882, Page 1 (Supplement)

REVIEW.

Tiik Acclimatisation of Salmonidak at tiik Antipodes : Its History and Reholts. By Arthur Nicols, F.G.S., F.K.G.S., &c. Tiik above is the title of a book published in May last, by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, London, a copy of which Messrs. Mackay Brothers, of Greystreet, have 83nt us. The work is confined to very moderate dimensions, and to the history proper is added, by way of an appendix, a seriea of documents relating to the early history of this great undertaking. Mr. Xicols's style of writing is easy and pleasant, and so far as the attempts which have been made to introduce the ova of the British salmon—s:ihno talar—into the South Pacific are concerned, Mr. Nicola may be depended upon as reliable and trustworthy. Tlie same cannot be said in respect to what ho writes regarding the introduction of the Californian salmon —salmo quinnat—into the waters of New Zealand and Australia. The history of this great undertaking remains yet to be written ; but the materials for such a history are here, and as soon as the introduction of this variety of salmon has been proved an unquestionable success in our warm waters, the various steps taken by Mr. .1. C. Firth, the chief actor in this undertaking, will no doubt be made public in a permanent form. On reading Mr. Nieols's interesting little work, at first we felt disappointed that the introduction of the Califoruiau salmon should have been so slightly treated, and even that which was written to be wrong, but perhaps he is to be excused for inaccuracies in this respect for waut of materials, seeing that Auckland was the point in which everything connected with this movement was centered, while London occupied the corresponding position respecting the introduction of the British salmon.

Mr. Nicols points out that the permanent habitation of the salmon in the Northern hemisphere is from 4j° to SO" north latitude, and that the warm waters on both sides of the equator prove a barrier which would ever prevent the salmon spreading I'aeifiewarils in a natural way. It is interesting now to look back upon the positive assertions made by the most experienced pisciculturists of only thirty years ago as to the impossibility of introducing the salmon to Australia and New Zealand. Mr. R. Rnmsbottom, of Clitheroe, wrote : " You might as well try to fetch Australia to England as to carry spawn to it in moss. Salmon spawn must be either hatching or dying from the moment it leaves the fish ; you can retard it to about 140 days, by a low temperature, but no longer. Neither one man nor another can carry living ova to Australia in any way ; you can send young fish, that is all." Vet the impossible has been repeatedly accomplished, and that which \v;is regarded as only possible has never been attempted. The first attempt at iutroducing living salmon ova from Britain to Australian waters was made in IS5'2, with '25.0U0 ova, by Mr. Hoceius, at a private cost of £:>OO ; but, though lie took every precaution that the experience of those days regarded as necessary to ensure success, not one of the ova reached the tropics alive. Mr. Boceius's failure gave fresh experience to subsequent experimenters. Mr. .1. A. You], CM.<i., made a series of leugthy and carefully conducted experiments at the Crystal Palace, and proved that the ova might be hatched at any time from .■>."> to 140 days from the date of fertilisation, but that the extreme limit was most dangerous to success. He found also that it was necessary to keep the temperature of the ova from HO' to Sy 5 Fahr. In February, ISGO, Mr. J. A. Youl, with means subscribed privately, despatched 30,000 ova by the Sarah Curling, from Liverpool, in. charge of Mr. Black, but they were all dead by the time the vessel reached !S. lat. L'Odeg. 23111111., long. \V. 27<leg. oSmiu., the temperature beiug then 75dejf. Fahr. In March, 15152, another attempt was made with funds provided by the Governments of Tasmania, New Zealand, and Victoria, and SO,OOO ova were Eent by the Beautiful .Star, under the charge of Mr. W. Kamsbottoni, but by the time the vessel had readied .S. lat. 22deg. 19miu, long. \V. •2odeg. SiSmin., the ice'was all gone and the ova dead. In this experiment, however, was the germ of all futuro success. Mr. Youl 'had. a small box prepared before the vessel sailed, tilled with living moss, among which were packed 800 ova, and then placed in the centre of the ice put on board the ship. The ova in this bux survived the death of all the others by eight hourH, in a temperature of (jjdeg. Kahr., and had the ice lasted Mr. Ramsbottom was of opinion this small consignment would have readied Tasmania alive. The experience which this little box gave was meditated upon at home by many, and in the cellars of the Weiiliam Lake Ice Company a series of experiments were carried out, which proved to Mr. Youl that air and water were not necessary to the safety of the ova. He subsequently had the ova hatched out with which he experimented, and the percentage of fish in each experiment recorded. In January, 1864, IIS.Qr.O ova were transmitted by the Norfolk to Melbourne. The owners—Messrs. Money Wigram anil Sons—carried them free, and gave the icipiisite space for an ice-house free of charge. This consignment waa all packed in boxes among moss, and placed beueath the whole of the ice stored on board, and was under the charge of Mr. \V. Kamsliottom. On the 15th April, 1864, the icehouse was opened, after the arrival of the vessel at Melbourne, and nn looking into oue J of the boxes it was found that a largo percentage of the ova was in a healthy state. The Victor iauGoverninciit provided a steamer i to at once convey the ova to Tasmania, ' where they were to be hatched, and on the i 4th May, ISO 4, the first trout emerged from | the egg in the breeding ponds in the l'lenty j River, which falls iuto the Derweut, some | distance above Hobart. By the Stli of June j "thousands of salmon were sporting about in their new home, enjoying their rations of boiled liver morning and evening, and affording a lively testimony to the persoverence and scientific foresight of one who had laboured for ten yoara single handed at a problem in acclimatisation which both scientific and practical men had often declared to be insoluble."

Of the SO,OOO living ova from the Norfolk shipment transferred to the ponds, it was estimated that 0000 young salmon and 900 i-almon trout were raised. Other shipments followed, and hi clue course the young salmon were liberated, and Mr. Nicola is of opinion, though their breeding grounds have not yet been found, that more than ono river in Tasmania is alroady well stocked with salmon spawned and bred in Tasmanian

waters

The various shipments of British salmon and trout ova made to New Zealand, ehielly to Otago, Southland, and Canterbury, are dealt with ; but the history of these steps is qeuerally well known by colonists. However, there is one circumstance related by Mr. ificols respecting the shipment by the Celestial Queeu, which sailed for Otago with 150,000 salmon and brown trout ova, packed by Mr. J. A. Youl, C.M.G., and placed under the charge of Mr. R. Dawbin, not recorded in the New Zealand Blue Books, which we shall make known. After the arrival of this shipment of ova, they were placed in the ponds "on the river Waiwera, a suitable tributary of the Molyueux." The imperfections of the arrangements made for the successful hatching of the ova are described. From 20,000 to 30,000 healthy ova had been placed on the gravel in the boxes for hatching, and all promised well. " When about 500 fine yoHng fry hail come out, a fresh set in, aud lasted so loag that the reservoirs could not maintain the waste through the leaky boxes, and Mr. Dawbin was compelled to let in the flood water, in order to keep life in the ova and fry. The filter became choked with the river sediments, and a layer of fine mud settled down on the ova in the boxes. In spite of every attention, thenceforth not a single ovum hatched, though the fry survived, and the colony thus lost probably 20,000 salmon,"

After the. ealmon were ready for being liberated, a day was appointed when some officials would wait on Air. Dawbin, and see the fish liberated. They did not keep their appointment, and subsequently he was instructed to liberate them, but to retain a few in the pomK About .JOO were sot at lioerty, through the waters of the Molyneux, and 80 retained. "Numbers of visitors had been from time to time to see the fish, which fed freely in their presence. In anticipation of the breeding time, the rill leading from the river was laid down with water-worn gravel, previously boiled, and the fish placed in possession. Not one of those could have been more than fifteen months old, and they ranged from 12 inches to 15 inches—a fact which pisciculturists will appreciate—and were fully satisfied with their new quarters." "At this point the Commissioners informed Mr. Dawbin that his services would be no longer needed, they having appointed a gentleman who seems to have had some influence with the Government, and on whose lands the ponds were situated, but was totally ignorant of the treatment the fish would need. Mr. Dawbin's offer to continue his services gratuitously for a term of six mouths was refused, and he was instructed to hand over his charge to the new-comer. This was too much for one who had devoted his time day and night for fifteen months to the care of the fish. The newcomer's incapacity would inevitably have resulted in their destruction, or, if this had not happened, be would have claimed whatever success might accrue. Impressed with the conviction that he was doing the best thing possible under the circumstances for the colony, Mr. Dawbin chose a when a slight fresh was coming down, and opened the gratings and allowed the prisoners to escape into the river." It is strange that such an important fact should have been smothered by the Provincial Government of Otago. Perhaps the treatment intended for Mr. Dawbin was of such a character that would not bear the light of day, and the fact of the fish being deliberately set free by Mr. Dawbin to save them from the results of mismanagement had been suppressed to prevent the contemplated action becoming known. Be the cavtuc what it may, the exposure is made, and history is not likely to forget it. What is the fate of the 500 to 600 salmon thus liberated in the Molyneux no one can satisfactorily say. It has been asserted that young salmon have been seen in the Dunudin harbour, and other places on the coast of Otago, but absolute proof has not yet been obtained. The same may be said respecting the largo quantities of Californian salmon ova which have been hatched in various rivers in the colony. The enemies cf the young fish here are many, and whether a sufficient number have survived to stock the rivers is a question which time has yet to solve. Even in regard to Tasmania there are many not ignorant of the habits of the Balmon who doubt the success of the acclimatisation of the British salmon in the waters of that colony. Let us hope that the efforts have been successful, and that before many years the Tasmanian and New Zealand rivers will bo well stocked with the king of fish. Mr. Nicols's history is issued at a cheap price, and should be in the possession of all who take an interest in this important subject.