ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

Otago Witness, Issue 2785, 31 July 1907, Page 57

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

The ordinary meeting of the Otago ' Acclimatisation Society, held on Friday, July 26, was * attended by Mr R. Chis1 holm (president). A. E. Farquhar, S. 1 M'Donald, C. EL R. Richardson, J. Sinclair i Thomson, C. P. Butterworth, G. M. Marshall, R. Rutherford, and A. C. Hanlon. REPORT. Mr F. Deans (Opoho) reported for the monrh of July as follows: — Owing to the protracted dry weather. I arm afraid the season is nearly over for collecting brown trout ova. This has not been a good season for securing ova, as the rivers are stall about their summer l«veL The number of wild ova is about 600,000. Mr Peterson, hou. ranger, Roraahap*, has succeeded in : procuring 61,000. and reports the season to be done. Mr Steven has been very successful in. his district, having got a largo number | in the Waiwera. and the ova are in splendid condition. Two orders have been received for ova —one from the Southland Society and j one from Geelong. The latter is for eyed , ova, part of which will be sent by t!he : Moexftki, which leaves the Bluff on Monday. , If a fresh comes soon it may be possible ■to get a considerable number of ova yet. Two young fallow deer have been shipped to Nelson. It will be interesting to know that Mr C. Ayson, curator oi the Haka.tara.mea. 1 salmon station, has, -while collecting trout eva, had a good run of the Pacific salmon (Oncorynchus schawytsha). This is good news, and as he has 30,009 of the ova. hatched, the experiment of acclimatising this fish might a'moet be considered a success; and although this variety of salmon may not be of much value to the angler, it will be of considerable value commercially. Steps are being taken to have the leaky pond at the Clinton hatchery concreted, and the pheasants' aviaries covered to make them a little mor« comfortable. The report was received. coßßxapoxirzircx. A. C. Iversen, Earnscleug>h, Alexandra, wrote at length re the owls forwarded by the society and liberated by him in the district. The owls had distributed themselves over the district, some beine" observed 20 miles from the spot at whicn they were liberated. The two owls which had remained in the arriter'e neigbbourhood had made great depredations among I fcbe sparrows and goldfinches. Trees ! which had formerly been stripped of their buds by the birds were now covered with buds, &i also were all the other fruit trees in trie district. The writer stated that the introduction of owis. by the society would prove a very effective meaaa ot destroying sparrows and other birds.—The letter was received. • A. A. Howes wrote stating 1 tib*t the Taie-ri River, if oleaned, would prove the finest trout stream in the colony, and asked if something could be done to mate it fiehabje. The Tafcrj hejd * great-

stretch of water and within easy reach of Dunedin. At present it was spoiled by the dirt coming down tfie tail races of the Naseby and Kyeburn diggings, the former emptying into the Taieri at Waipiata and the latter about a mile below that place. If dams wen©- formed in the races, one to every mile, a Large proportion of the sediment would settle in the pools formed, and the water would then reach the Taieri comparatively dear. — It was decided that the Jetter be forwarded to Mr Murray, manager of the Mount Ida waterworks,, for an expression of opinion on the scheme proposedTHE BECENT COKFEBESCJS. Mr Chishohn, one of the delegates to the recent Acclimatisation Societies' Conference at "Wellington, reported results. The conference had passed some 13 resolutions, and an assurance had been received that the expressions of the conference Vould be embodied in the* proposed consolidated Animals Protection Bill to be passed this session. — On the motion of Mr Richardson, Messrs Chiaholm and Forrest, delegates to the conference, were accorded a heerty vote of thanks, which was carried by acclamation, for the manner in which they had represented the local society at the conference in Wellington. GENERAL. It was decided to have included in the new regulations to be framed a clause limiting the number of fish to be caught. In recognition of his worfby services to the eocietv in the way of putting down poaching and generally watching the interests of the society, it was deckled to elect Mr Robert Cockburn, of Roxburgh, an honorary member of the society.