BEER IN THE HUNTER VALLEY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2677, 5 July 1905, Page 53

BEER IN THE HUNTER VALLEY.

At yesterday's meeting of the council of the Otago Acclimatisation Sooiety the fc»l» lowing letter from Mr John H. King, uf Pembroke, was read : —

"My attention hae been drawn to the report of -a meeting of your society held on the sth May, and more particularly to that portion of the report referring to w letter "received from Mr A. E. L:atham, ia which he makes the statement that thß Hunter Valley had ' gone to pot,' and thafc he did not think thsre was a good head left in the Hunter ; and as assertions of that nature will tend to keep sportsmen from going to that locality -for deer-stalking, I am taking the liberty to write ~fco you and give my views on the matter, and the causes that may have Jed Mr Leathani to oome to the pessimistic conclusions be ha^s. There is no doubt that, whatever may be the cause, the heads procured this season ar< not quite up to the usual standard, and I notice the same complaint is made with regard to the sport obtained in rlie Blue Mountains ; and probably this may have beeM the result of the- lat&ness of the spring, .and consequent scarcity of feed, at the time when the stags were casting their antlers and the new growth bad commenced, it/ being a recognised fact that the feed i ha<s largely to do with the strength and quality of the .antlers. ■ Bufc I scarcely think thai! because the heads all round have not been so good this season as -in -some past years it should justify Mi- Ijea*ham's Temai'ks-; as a matter of fact, it .would be quite open to *ny of the -other parties who were out this year to -make the same aesertions were they "to take the same dismal view of things as 'Mr Leatnam, and thus condemn the whole foreet as having ' gone to -.pot,' which' would be absurd. With regard to \there being no good heads left in the Hunter, I think rt is rather a sweeping assertion for any one individual to make when one considers the large A>rea contained in the Hunter Valley and ite numerous tributaries, and, if I am not mistaken, some good heads may yet be got this season by some of the local jnen who have taken out licenses. One of the Tea=ons, and I think the principal one, for the scarcity of good heads bagged -this season is that the Hunter has been 'crushed' and overcrowded for the last two year?, and the larger and older stags have become so wary, from being so much disturbed, that they* keep to the bush and' take the hinds with them, only coming out late in the evpnhiff. This I know is the case in the Di:icl". whore I vrai wt'l< "'*'■' Melvilk G'/a.v !",-'• Gray and myself k\< >. nl i -.oial^ _ but they never showed out of the i»rtoo late in the day to have a shot at thorn : and all up the .Dingle Valley, -which iff heavily timbered on both -sides, we oould hear the- stags .rearing in the heart of the bush. This also applies to hinds, the scarcity of -which was remarked "by some of the parties out this season ; and I think, from the fact that large numbers .of both, stags and hinds were seen in the open country At the head of the Timaru Creek where Mr Armytage got some good "heads, it beaTS out my theory. T am strongly of opinion .thart the fact of the big stags making a sanctuary of the dense bush will tbe the; means of keeping up the standard of the herd, as it -stands to reason that -everyone? who takes out a license tries to >get the best heads he can, with the xesu't that thet best stags aTe shot at the commencement 6l the season, therefby depriving the herd of the sers-iees of the best «ires, and the Kinds Ate taken possession of by inferior stags. I have been out with various sportsmen' every season for the last 15 years, and I do not recollect ever having seen 6o many aeformed heads as were Been this year. Many of those gtags hold three or ifour hinds, and sometimes more. I jput thai down to in-breeding, as I have observed* that when there are no big stags about the deer go in families — that r is, perhaps, aa old hind and several generations deseenoe^ from her, — and the consequence as that dn many cases those old -hinds get in calf ta their own progeny. I have heard it .argued! that in a large herd of deer like that at Ha-wea it devolves itseK into a matter qf natural 'selection ; but I fail to see shsm tV< eames in. when the natural .selection is 'frustrated by the best sires being shot. Xa my opinion this state of things accounts for bo many poor heads being seen, and I think it -would s be of advantage to "the herd if 'a reliable -man were entrusted -with, tbe work of «hooting the <old, infirm 'stag* and those with deformed heads. I saw two heads, that were shot this year, that at on€ time bad been K°od, hut they had deteriorated through the age of the stags, the mouths of which were completely ' gone ' :' one had no teeth at all. and the other -two stumps worn down to the -gums. No d"oubi' there are numbers in the same plight, and it stands to reason that old stags of t,hat description cannot besjet good stock. Tliei same applies to old, broksn-down hind 6 thafl have not the constitution to nourish their calves, which develop into weedy animals. " I trust my few remarks may be of some* assistance to the society, and that they may have the effect of explaining the reason for 1 Mr Leatham having oome to the conclusion' he has." Tt was resolved to thank Mr King for hig letter.