ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9025, 11 April 1888, Page 6

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

ANNUAL MEETING.

The annual general meeting of the Auckland j Acclimatisation - Society was held

yesterday afternoon, at the Museum buildings. Present: Messrs. R. C. Barstow (in the chair), Bull, Morrin, Hobbs, Harrow, Burtt, Hill, and B. T. Hawkins :—

The following report was read by the Secretary :— ''

At the expiration of their term of office it is now the duty of the Council to submit to the members a report on the financial condition of the Society, and its progress during the past year. Finances.— total revenue, excluding the bank balance at the commencement of the year, has been £260 Is, against £282 3s for the previous year. The game licenses have yielded £214 10s, a sum apparently considerably under that received in 1886, when £249 10s was credited to the Society. This amount, however, included £24 10s paid by the Government in error, so that the real decrease is not more than £11. The Council are sorry to state that there is no increase in the members' subsciiptions, the amount credited under that head being precisely the same as that received in 1886. The expenditure, as detailed in the annexed balancesheet. reaches a total of £271 2s 10d, leaving a credit balance of £66 19s 3d in the Bank of New Zealand. < >

Gardens.— the City Council still continue to occupy the gardens, plant houses, conservatory, etc., under the arrangement made with the late Domain Board, the Council have practically nothing to report under this head.

Fish.The Council regret to say that the anticipations made in the last report respecting the breeding of the three varieties of trout kept in the society'a ponds have not been realised. With regard to the English brown trout, the unusually hot weather experienced during the summer and autumn of the previous season proved fatal to the whole of the mature fish. No doubt this would not have occurred had the ponds been situated by the side of a suitable stream, so that an ample supply of cool water could have , been turned through during the hot weather, 'f It has been a great and serious drawback to the fish-breeding operations of the society that no such stream exists near Auckland, and that circumstances have thus almost com-

polled the use of a locality so unsuitable as the Auckland Domain, where the supply of water is limited, and is liable to have its temperature greatly raised during the summer months. With the view of reducing the temperature as much as possible, a connection has been made with the city water supply, which is always tolerably cool; but the amount of water obtained is limited to what will pass through al4 inch pipe. It should be mentioned that the City Council have kindly promised to make no charge for this. The rainbow trout kept in excellent health during the whole of the season,being apparently unaffected by the heat that deatoyed the blown trout. The females matured large numbers of ova; and had a supply of mat been available, probably 50,000 or 60,000 eggs would have been obtained for hatching. But, from some unexplained reason, the males, though perfectly healthy to all outward appearance, failed to produce any milt, and the season has thus been rendered barren of results. As the ponds have been enlarged during the year, tue fish will have more room, and a somewhat larger supply of water, so that it is hoped that better success will attend the operations of the society during the coming seaison. The American brook trout have shewn no signs of breeding, although in a perfectly healthy state. Early in the Spring a consignment of 10.000 brown trout ova was ordered from Otago, and arrived in excellent condition. Instead of distributing the ova among country applicants, it was decided to hatch the whole at the society's fish-house. This was done with a very fair measure of success, over 8000 healthy young fish being obtained. These have been retained in ( the ponds up to the present time, but it is intended to distribute the greater part very shortly, charging apflicants the nominal price of £1 per hundred, t is satisfactory to know that brown trout are frequently seen in Henderson's Creek, and the Waitakerei River, so that there is every probability that they are safely established in these streams. Trout are also known to exist in some streams near Tuakau, and at Bombay : and quite lately reports have .reached the Society that some of those placed in the Patetere streams have been seen. It is also pleasing to know that the rainbow trout liberated m Lake Takapuna are thriving. One accidentally killed was exhibited in Auckland a few months ago, and had attained a weight of nearly two pounds. Poaching.The increase of poaching in' most country districts, and the extent to which pheasants are shot during the season by unlicensed sportsmen, is a serious and growing evil, ana one which it is very difficult to combat. It is matter for regret that land-owners, who are the people really most interested in suppressing illicit shooting, are, as a rule, indifferent in the matter, and do not give that active and cordial assistance without which the Society can do little. The illicit sale of pheasants in Auckland, especially hens, is also very difficult to suppress. The experiment tried by the Socicty during the last two years, of issuing no selling licences, has not proved successful, but, on the contrary, seems to have put the sale of hens more out of reach. It has therefore been decided to issue selling licences during the coming season as usual. Introduction of Crabs.—At the instance of Mr. James Burtt, two attempts have been made to introduce the edible crab of Fiji and other parts of Polynesia. The Council regret to say, however, tnat in both cases the crabs died before reaching New Zealand waters. The thanks of the society are due to Captain Hutton, of the Richmond, and Captain Cromarty, of the Wainui, for their kind assistance in this matter; also to Mr. Ford, of Levuka.

Thanks.—lt now only remains for the Council to tender the thanks of the society to Mr. Hugh Craigj and Messrs. W. K. Graham and Co., for their kind services as agents of the society in San Francisco and London.

The annual balance-sheet, a synopsis of which is contained in the report, was also read.

The Chairman, in moving the adoption of the report and balance-sheet, said that the report was so very full tnat it was hardly necessary for him to say a word. There was no doubt in his mind in regard to what had been said about the trout, that had they command of a suitable stream in the vicinity of Auckland, the breeding of trout might be conducted with advantage, but it was extremely difficult to find such a stream within reasonable distance of Auckland. Henderson and Waitakerei creeks were liable to floods. But in the face of the difficulties they had met with, he congratulated the Society that their loss had not been greater. He was afraid that fish would have to propagato themselves under circumstances Which they , must discover for themselves. He could not understand why strong healthy males failed in this respect. The young fish which they now had were strong and healthy, and in six weeks' time would be fit to send out. sHe saw an account recently of fish having been sent in hermetically sealed cases, ana that the loss was inappreciable. It certainly seemed odd, but the experiment might be worth trying. About game, it was clear that pheasants had almost disappeared from the neighbourhood of Auckland. Whether this was because they went in pursuit of food, or because they were' harassed or killed out, he did not know. He knew of one place where a few years ago he saw 11 cock pheasants at one time, where now a bird couH not be seen ; but whether they were starved out by other birds or not he could not say. Tne society ought to be in a position to do something. He recently had a conversation with a gentleman from Wairoa, who said that pheasants were abundant there, and easily caught. One reason for the deficiency of their revenue was the scarcity of birds near Auckland. Some time ago 18 brace was considered only a fair bag for a day's shooting, but now five brace was considered a good bag. If they could replace the pheasants in the vicinity of Auckland, they would have a large accession of subscribing members, and it was worth while considering whether they should re-stock. As to poaching, he thought that was dying out. There might be some pot-shooting, but poaching itself was dying out, as tne inducements were not sufficient. Ho moved the adoption of the report and balance-sheet.

Mr. Hobbs seconded the motion. He did not quite agree with the chairman's remarks as to the reasons why licenses were not taken out. If his reasons were right, why then should they propose to have licenses to sell game He was satisfied that pheasants had increased during the last two years by the stoppage of licenses to sell game, and during the last two years he was pleased to hear the crow of the cock pheasant in his neighbourhood, and to see young broods about. He thought it would fee better to close the shooting seasons altogether for a year or two. The Chairman said he agreed with Mr. Hobbs' remarks to some extent, but he might state that formerly the bulk of the licenses were taken out by residents in

Auckland' and its vicinity, who went out for an occasional day's snooting, but who could not afford the time to go to long distances and spend two or three days.. He believed as many pheasants were Bold , during the . last two years, when licenses to 1- sell were prohibited, as during any previous year. The story of the "Drury hen was • dommbn, ; and many birds were plucked before they were sent to Auckland. He did not believe there was a single bird less sold because of the refusal to issue licenses. Their duty was to restock the neighbourhood of Auckland, so that those who desired could have a day's shooting within a reasonable distance.

Mr. Hobbs said he had been told by a settler that he was going to put up an accommodation house on the new road between Ngaruawahia and Waitetuna, because pheasants were so plentiful there, and from Kawhia and other places he also heard that they,were very plentiful. Mr. Burtt said there was another cause for the disappearance of the birds, which they could not surmount. Men shot birds to make money, without taking out licenses, and country magistrates imposed such light fines that they thought it better to run the risk of being caught rather than pay for licenses. Mr. Harrow thought that another reason was the increased use of poisoned grain. » Mr. Bull favoured the issue of licenses to sell game. The adoption of the report was then put and carried. Mr. Bull proposed that Mr. Hobbs be elected president for the ensuing year. Mr. Hobbs declined, and proposed that Mr. Barstow be re-elected. Mr. Barstow objected, but the motion was insisted on, and was carried unanimously. Mr. Hobbs was re-elected vice-president. The committee of the previous year was re-elected, Mr. W. H. Shakespear being, on the motion of Mr. Harrow, elected to the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. S. E. Hughes. The vacancy caused by the death of tho Hon. Jas. Williamson was left open. Messrs. Waymouth and White were re-elected auditors, and thanked for their former services.

A vote of thanks to the Chairm'an terminated the meeting.