THE CANTERBURY ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY’S GARDENS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVI, Issue II, 11 January 1896, Page 26

THE CANTERBURY ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY’S GARDENS.

ACCLIMATISATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

[BY

THE WARRIGAL.]

THE Canterbury Acclimatisation Society’s Gardens form one of the most picturesque places about Christchurch. They are situated on the banks of the river Avon between the Domain and the South Park, a few minutes' walk from Cathedral Square. The fish ponds, a beautiful reach of the river, and abundance of willows and forest trees give a sylvan air to the place which is especially charming in summer. But besides the picturesqueness of the place there is a large interest in the acclimatisation of various fish, birds, and other

things, an interest beginning to be recognised by a good number of people. Acclimatisation is a most important thing in this country.

New Zealand is a wonderfully fertile and lovely place. Nature was lavish in showering on the land all the at-

Late Secretary Christchurch Acclimatisation. One of the first to introduce Trout into New Zealand.

tractions that make it so valuable to man. It gave grand mountains, clear, swift rivers, great forests, grassy plains ; it gave a healthy and delightful climate, a fertile soil, but it neglected one important thing—it did not stock the country. The clear rivers were bare of any fish save gigantic eels, the forests held no animals larger than a rat, and no game birds save a few parrots and pigeons. The grassy hills and plains were lifeless save for the wingless weka. The only game of any impor-

tance were the waterfowl —thegrey duck, spoonbill duck, the black and brown teal, the Blue Mountain duck, and the paradise duck, the pukaki, the bittern, the black swan, and a few smaller birds. The Acclimatisation Societieshavedoneagreat deal to alter this state of things. We have now hares and pheasants in the open country ; deer, wallabes, and possums on the hills ; and in our rivers we have the gamest of game fish—the royal trout. There is scarcely a stream in the South Island but what is stocked with trout, and just through the work of Acclimatisation Societies we now possess perhaps the best

trout-fishing in the world. We can scarcely yet appreciate the value of this work. Besides giving the finest of sport to the people of the country, and adding one of the most delicious of fish to our list, it increases the charm of our country, and attracts wealthy visitors every year. It requires no prophet to foresee that in the future the value of trout-fishing will increase, and it is more than probable that, besides continuing to attract tourists, it will give rise to valuable industries on our estuaries and in our lakes. The history of the introduction of trout into Canter-

bury is very interesting. I quote some facts from a pamphlet published by Mr S. C. Farr, who is one of the fathers of acclimatisation here, and who has done more perhaps than anyone in introducing trout into our rivers. In the year 1866 the Provincial Government gave to the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society the piece of ground which forms the gardens I am describing. Ponds were made and trees planted. In 1867 the Society sent their curator over to Tasmania to obtain trout ova. He was to receive Z3O on account of expenses, and /.'i each for every trout he reared to be six weeks old. He raised three trout only out of the 800 received, and they escaped, but two of them were recaptured. In 1868 more ova was obtained from Tasmania, and 433 trout were raised and turned out in the Avon, Heathcote, Irewell, Cam. Dake Coleridge and other places. From that date the Society have continued to raise and distribute trout, with the result that the rivers of Canterbury are now as well stocked with fish as any angler could desire. The work of raising trout still goes on, and most interesting work it is too. In our illustration we show the hatching house, which is in reality a gigantic nurserv. About June the Society capture large trout in the various rivers and strip them of their ova. This ova is placed in shallow boxes half filled with fine shingle, over which a stream of water constantly runs. The milt is placed with the ova, and in about four weeks the young fry is hatched. The fry remains in the boxes for another month, and is then put into larger boxes, which are placed in the water races outside, and after about another month in this confinement they are liberated in the open races and fed on ground liver, gentles, and other fishy food. The young fish are kept in the races until they are twelve months old, when they are sent into the different rivers, or sold to private individuals.

There are ninety boxes in the hatching house, and as a rule 400,000 ova or eggs are placed in them, and out of this number of eggs 250,000 to 300,000 young fry are obtained. The varieties of trout dealt with are American Brook trout, Salmon trout, Loch Leven, and Burn trout, Brown trout and Rainbow trout. It used to be the custom to distribute the young fry, but it has been found that it is much better to keep the fish until they are yearlings before liberating, when they stand a much better chance of fishing for themselves.

The hatching out and distributing of trout is the most important of acclimatisation work carried on by the Society, but is only a part of the’ work such a Society might do if they were supported as they should be by the public. The love of sport is inherent in the AngloSaxon. and there is no reason why all the vast waste of mountain country in the high Southern Alps should not be stocked with red deer and chamois. The young New Zealander should look upon the work of acclimatisation as a natural duty. He is naturally a sportsman, and though he may be too apt to weigh the pleasure of fish-

ing by the weight of his basket, and shooting by the number of head he kills, without considering the deeper delights of natural history and the finer arts of the chase, yet when he considers how much acclimatisation has already done to give him sport, he may begin to see that it is for his own interest to do more for acclimatisation, to assist in preserving and encouraging game. Many young New Zealanders have estates splendidlv adapted for the rearing of game. They have rivers and streams, and it would be easy for them to stock such waters with trout. They can get the young fish from the

Acclimatisation Societies for 30s per ico, or fry at 40s per r.ooo. A few pounds spent in this manner would yield huge profits in the way of sport. Three years after stocking a river should yield good fish, and the fecundity of trout is remarkable. But wealthy New Zealanders or the Government or public bodies might go further than this. There are vast extents of wild country in the back ranges utterly useless for pastoral purposes. These places might become national parks if stocked with red deer, chamois, grouse, Ptarmigan, and all kinds of game. Of course great care would have to be exercised in selecting the right kinds of game, but we have knowledge enough now to escape uiany of the mistakes of the past. I should like to see steps taken to encourage acclimatisation in this country. We can scarcely calculate the value of trout-fishing alone to New Zealand, but I should say that it is worth some thousands of pounds annually to the nation, and as New Zealand will naturally become a favourite resort for Australians and European holiday - makers, all kinds of sport will be profitable. Apart, however, from the commercial aspect of the case, the thousands of young men growing up will look to the chase of game as one of the most healthy and delightful of sports, and for their pleasure everything possible should be done to encourage acclimatisation.

I have gone away from my particular subject in the interests of acclimatisation in general, but I only need add now that the Canterbury Society is progressing very favourably. When its present secretary, Mr H. A. Bruce, took office the Society was in debt. Now it has over /. 300 to its credit, a fact largely due to Mr Bruce’s energy and business acumen. The President of the Society, Mr A. Garrish, has long been associated with acclimatisation, and has done much to forward its interests both in Canterbury and Otago.