4 



848 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



cessful way of hatcliing out ova is the natural process on the shingle- 

 beds of rivers. In confirmation of this, Mr. Firth has received intelli- 

 gence of the salmon having been seen in the various rivers in which ovb 

 was placed, but the experiment made in the Eapurapu River, one of the 

 upper branches of the Thames, is the most successful and interesting. 

 In that river, for miles above and below the i)oint where Mr. Firtli de- 

 I)Osited the ova upon the shingle-bed last November, swarms of young 

 salmon have been seen five inches long. There can be very little doubt 

 that the great experiment now being undertaken will, with previous 

 efibrts, successfully establish the king of fish in the rivers of this colony. 



After transmitting each box to Victoria and the south, Mr. Firth will 

 take 40,000 ova to the Upper Puniu. Eewi, the Ngatimaniapoto chief, 

 having some time ago requested Mr. Firth to meet him in the King 

 Country to see if any of the rivers were suitable for salmon, Mr. Firth 

 accordingly went up and selected the Puniu as one of the most suitable 

 of the Waikato system of rivers. A parcel will also be taken to the 

 Upper Thames. A box will also be hatched in the society's hatching- 

 boxes in the domain, and the remainder will be placed by Mr. Firth in 

 the Mangakahia River and another stream which fall into the Northern 

 Wairoa. These northern rivers have been selected by Mr. Firth during 

 his recent visit to that part of the country. It is hardly necessary to 

 add that the society are satisfied that the only proper way to secure 

 success in the important experiments is to concentrate their operations 

 upon the three most important river systems in this province — Waikato, 

 the Thames, and the Northern Wairoa — rather than by placing small 

 quantities in the innumerable creeks all over the country. If success is 

 achieved, every suitable stream in the country can be stocked at leisure 

 without difficulty from one or other of the rivers named. The future im- 

 portance of the salmon-fishing industry, the foundation of which Mr. 

 Firth and the Acclimatization Society are now laying, can hardly be 

 estimated. 



When the steamer arrived it was found that a less quantity of ova 

 was on board than was exj)ected. There were eleven boxes of salmon 

 ova, containing, it was estimated, about 550,000, which are distributed 

 as follows: For Auckland, 100,000; for Napier, 50,000; for Nelson, 

 50,000; for Greymouth, 50,000; for WeUington, 50,000; for Canterbury, 

 50,000; for Dunedin, 50,000; for Southland, 100,000 ; for Victoria, 50,000. 

 No time will be lost in distributing through the Auckland streams and 

 rivers the proportion assigned to this district. Mr. J. C. Firth, who con- 

 tinues to be so energetic in this kind of public usefulness, left on Wed- 

 nesday morning for Te Awamutu, in which neighborhood some of the 

 eggs are to be deposited. It is intended to deposit 30,000 in the Puniu. 

 There will be deposited some 50,000 at various points in the upper waters 

 of the Waikato, and the remainder, about 20,000, in the Rapurapu, one 

 of the tributaries of the Upper Thames. It is satisfactory to be able to 

 state that the ova have arrived in excellent condition, and for this re- 



