LAND AND WATER.

New Zealand Mail, 17 September 1902, Page 60 (Supplement)

LAND AND WATER.

(By “Dalbiac.”) The Masterton hatcheries sending out about 10,000 trout fm.™* week, and this average will nmf be maintained until about p| Plo ! Jal)l y Th, hatching, ,vlJ l t°'lv Cb i r , S will he completed in about 6™

Mi Ayson, the curator of the Ponds accompanied the consignment of GO OOn trout which was recently sent borne. About throe thousand of \ lie fry were unfortunately destroyed in ( ! rough weather between Napier and G s

The suggestion of Mr W. H. Beetle,.-* that there should be conferences of so cieties has taken hold in the south in perhaps a better form. The Canterbury Society has decided to ask kindred bodies to assist m the formation of an association formed of delegates from all the societies in the colony. It i 3 thought that such an association could hold conferences, discuss matters of common interest and have approved suggestions passed into law. The idea ?s a very good one. There is urgent need for co-operation and conformity 0 f action on larger matters, while the existing: canneds would continue to administer provincial matters as the different conditions of the provinces dor,land.

Mr L. F. Ayson points out an important error in last week’s notes with regard to hatching trout fry in spring water. Wliat he said at Paliiatua was that trout could not well be “reared” in spring water. He adds that sprint* water, if dropped from a height and w e lT aerated before passing through tho hatching boxes is- excellent water for hatching the ova, but it is poor for rearing fish. The best water for rearing fish is stream or river water as it is full of insect life and better aerated than spring water.

The cro pof Spanish silk worm gut for the 1902 season is estimated at 90,000,000 strands, weighing about eight tons.’ The-Canterbury Acclimatisation Society is paying for heads of shags, which are at present very prevalent at tho Upper Selwyn. The gun license question lias received the cold shoulder from the Canterbury Society on the ground that it is too lato to do anything this season. The Canterbury Society is in favour of the Otago proposal that licenses -should be issued for netting trout at sea. It is, however, of opinion that all net fishing for trout should come within the scope of tho proposed law and that acclimatisation societies should have control of tho licenses.

Tho Hawera Acclimatisation Society lias a large credit balance, and has decided to establish ponds and a hatchery. A small consignment of hares has been liberated in the Paliiatua district. A consignment of trout fry will shortly bo liberated in the streams of the same district.

The Pekin robin’s introduction is not viewed with unanimous favour. The Agricultural Department submitted tho matter to the opinion of societies, and most of them accepted the assurance of Mr Finn, of the Calcutta Museum, that tho little 1 ird would be perfectly harmless. _ The Canterbury Sooicty is not so certain about it and prefers to throw the responsibility upon Otago, A meeting of anglers was held on Monday evening to consider matters of interest to the sport-. Among other business the resuscitation of the old anglers’ club was decided upon. As an example of the necessity for such a club one angler said ho had fished the river for twenty-five years and had only once been asked to show his license. It will also be the business of the Chib to watch fishing legislation. The annual subscription was fixed at 2s Gd. The subject of net fishing in Lake Ellesmere was discussed and a motion was proposed “That net fishing in Lake Ellesmere be closed for three years.” It seems trout have for the last five or six years been -systematically netted in the lake and sold. The fact that- a certain number of fishermen—about half a dozen—get their living in this manner renders it difficult for societies to get the matter remedied. Some time ago, in order to cope with the difficulty the Society made a practice of buying up all the trout that were got in the Lake and reselling them to the fishmongers, who were compelled to sell them to the public at a certain price. This method’ was stopped by the Government as illegal, and there is now no way of stopping the illegitimately procuring of trout. After a long disoussion the meeting decided “That th# Acclimatisation Society should taka st6ps to prohibit the sale of trout.”