THE LANDING OF THE SALMON OVA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4406, 3 April 1876, Page 3

THE LANDING OF THE SALMON OVA.

(mOH 008 SPECIAL EEPjORXER.)

[By Telegraph.]

The fiunrr, Saturday morning. The Arawata has arrived with the salmon nova. Mr Howard was compelled to partially unpack them, owing to his having received a telegram from the Superintendent that a portion of them were to go on. to Canterbury. Two-thirds of the ova neat to Sir Samuel Wilaoa appeared good to the naked eye, but now only about 2000 are living. All the Geelong, and all but 300 of the Ballaiat ova, are now dead. Mr Howard personally exanriued the ova in the Melbourne ice-house with a powerful glass, and found the greater portion of them impregnated. This was the •only case wherein proper temperature was kept, aud he ifl sanguine as to the probable results here. The weather is drizzly, and all hat caa be desired.

Isvercaroill, Saturday Evening. The Australian portion of the palmon ova was landed from the Durham on the 20th March, and the Otago portion was left in the icehouse until the 25th, when it was transhipped to the Arawata. Arrangements had been made with Messrs M'Meokan, Blackwood, and Co. to detain the Otago for 48 honrn, but she sailed 24 hours before the arrival of the Durham. There were in all 113 boxes reserved for Otago, nearly the whole of them being packed by Mr Youl and stripped by Mr iiamsbottom. Six only were packed by Mr Buckland. The> reason is that Mr Howard arranged with Sir Samuel Wilion that he,would take the por tion at the bottom of the box, by whomever packed, to save disturbance of the eggs. The Otago boxes were carried from the Durham to the Arawata in wet blankets covered with ice on hand barrows and placed in a box 6ffc. square, on which ice was packed 3ft. high. This was coveted, in with blankets, and a false box was built around, allowing an intervening space of 3ft., which was filled up : with ice. The transhipment was <J!ecfcecl in a very hot wind on one of the closest days of the season. Od the arrival of the Arawata at the Bluff it was found that the temperature during the voyage varied from 33 to 31 degrees Fahrenheit. The* boxes were transferred in bulk to a truck prepared for the purpose under the supervision of Captain Underwood and Mr Irving, chief officer, and were then packed round with ice. Messrs Wood, M.H.K., Maitland, and Hume, of the Society, met Mr Howard at the Bluff, and at 11.45 Mr Arthur, traffic manager, arrived with a special engine, when th<3 ova wero at once taken to Invercargill in Mr Howard's charge. At Invercargill a special train was made up, and six men wero engaged by Mr Arthur to e;irry the ova from the line to the hatching boxes at Wallacetown." About a quarter of a mile along the new Western .Railway the train was stopped and the porterage commenced. The boxes were taken in lota of a dozen, packed in blankets and ice, on handbarrows, and the work waavery^ tedious, »»'■ a mile and'haft ftfittieyen, and in'some^lftcea swampy, ground had ~tc be' traversed. At four o'clock a box packed-by^Mr Youl was opened, the temperature insicttf it being 42J. degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature of. the water in the hatching-box 42 degrees.The box was made of deal, and the ova were packed in common moss' 'on a bed of charcoal. Out of 600-there was a yield of 90 apparently healthy eggs. However, before they could be packed in the hatching box, about a dozen became worthless. The next box opened was one packed by Mr Buckknd and contained 1200- eggs packed in sphagnum moss. This moss appeared to be somewhat mouldy and smelt strongly of turpentine. Turpentine could also- ber detected, by taste after biting an egg. The whole of the boxes of ova a rived at the hatching boxes about 6 o'clock, and this necessitated the "stoppage of operations until the temperature of the water in all the hatching boxes could be reduced. An examination, of the boxes where Messrs Youl's and Buckland's ova had been placed, showed that a considerable number bl the ova had become worthless since being placed there. This result, however, is hardly a fair comparative test between the rival systems of packing as one box was taken from the top. The arrangements made by Mr Hum«, in conjunction with'Mr Howard, deserve every commendation. Sunday evening.

It was after dark last night before Mr Howard was able to get all the ova boxes under water, the temperature of the .water and that of the boxes being 46 degrees Fahrenheit, r,-Twenty-five .boxes have been opened up to the present time, nine of which were packed by Mr Buckland. Mr Buckland's choice of ova is supeiior to that of Mr Youl, the fish being visible to the naked eye in 'nttmbers of them, and the sphagnum moss as packing appears more suitable than the common moss, Mr Buckland having a far .greater'proportion of/living ova than Mr Youl.;' Large' numbers of Mr Youl's' ova 'ifref'-vkludds^iifld that even when taken from .boxes'jfacked'at the bottom of ' the large box, arid • consequently having the Hiest chance., A Sort of mouldy, growth- is j visible in Mr Yotd's-moss, iv appearance not | unlike a spider's web. Under the micro- ! scope, v.hen first exposed to the atmosphere, lit is quite opaqne, but iv a few minutes becomes transparent. Mr Buckland s moss is quite clean and fre« from this growth. Both mosses have a-strong taste of turpentine, the use of charcoal by Mr Youl not appearing to make any appreciable difference in this respect. Oneboxis marked "E.W. S. Huttory on the lime," and it is not-known by whom it was packed. The system adopted is layers of flannel, Tvith the ova packed between them. Flannel and ova are covered with mould, aud the ova are all dead. After a box is unpacked and the living ova are placed in the water, a portion immediately die off, and with one exception discovered by Dr Forath, of InveTcargill, these dead ova appear to have never been impregnated. A great number of the eggs seem never to have been properly fecundated. Jnfct before we left, 'At Howard opened two more Lof Mr Youl's boxes, and which had been placed at' the top of the laige box and' subjected to a higher temperature. These are doing just as well as Mr Buckland's. Another box of' Youl's, marked " 1," and packed at the bottom of the large box, j ielded c imparatively nothing. Mr Howard is assisted by Messrs Riddle and Nuree, and epeaksin high terms of those who in Melbourne and here have helpe.l him with the work.' He says the whole shipment is by far the best he has seen, .and be has no doubt as to the success of the experiment.