ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 221, 22 October 1914, Page 2

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY.

MEETING OF COUNCIL. The Council of the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society met last evening, Mr W. H. Tisdall presiding over a large attendance. The Under-Secretary of the Department of Internal Affairs wrote, in reply to a letter from the society asking to be supplied'' with a copy of Professor Prince's report, stating that the report was hot yet available, but would be sent on when it was ready. The secretary reported having written to the Under-Secretary for Internal Affairs in reply to a letter from him in regard to the proposal on foot to mix ' some of the Lucas Park-bred deer with the herd in the Hunter in North Otago. The stated■; that it was. a wrong impression that the deer in the. Canterbury Acclimatisation Society's district were mainly 'from the Lucas Park (Warnham Court) Herd. The large herd of Bed deer in the Rakaia, Gorge, which had extended into the Ashburton .Society's district, was established by the Canterbury Society in 1897 from stock obtained from Stoke Park, Slough, Buckinghamshire, and were quite distinct from,- although probably distantly related to, Mr Lucas's herd at Warnham Court. The society, however, had another herd on the Poulter River, a tributary of the Waimakariri, which was formed of stock obtained from Mr Lucas in 1908 and 1909, but no application had been made by the Otago Society for any of these deer. The information regarding the proposal to mix Warnham Court deer with the herd in the Hunter was no doubt based upon the fact that the Otago Society imported,, about a year ago or more, a number of Warnham Court deer, with the idea of introducing new blood into the herd. The protests of deer stalkers against such a step, ; and the fact that the imported deer ; .did not present any features that would be likely to improve the Otago herd, impressed the Otago' Acclimatisation Society with the undesirability. of mixing the deer. The Canterbury Society was of the opinion that it would be a decided mistiake to introduce Warnham Court deer into the ;; Otago herd, thereby crossing pure Scotch deer with English. Park blood* The secretary's action was approved. The secretary of the New Zealand Gun Clubs' Association wrote, intimating that the association's rules at ent gave it the privilege of. debarring all undesirable persons. Anyone convicted for breaches- under the Animals' I Protection Act would-be ti-eatisd as a debarred «;person,. and the : ..association [asked the society to let the Gun Clubs' I Association know of such persons from time ija time. >:■•

The, curator reported that during the mouth he had continued the liberation of the fry as .follows:—In the'Uakaia, 25,000; Hurunui, 25,000; East Oxford, 10,000; Gust, 16,000; Selwyn, 25,000; Cam, 15,000; Saltwater Creek; 5000; making a total' of ' 121,000. Last month- 337,000 were liberated; 25,000 hadbgen placed in the race, and 10,000 were still in the fry boxes, making a total of 493,000, concluding the list of brown fry to be liberated. Eainbow fry had also been liberated in the following lakes:—Selfe, 20,000; Meremere, 2Q,OoOj"'powder, >20,000'; Grassmere,. 16,000; Sarah, 10,000; Pearson, 20,000; Rubicon, 5000. v There were still 20,000 to be liberated .in the • lakes of the Upper Hurunui, and 5000' in Lakes Wind whistle and Spectacle/ , -'

A statement of receipts and expenditure showed a credit balance of £5Ol 3/4.