It appeared that many of the ova had been gathered thirty days before the vessel sailed, otherwise, the time was shorter than by the Oberon. These were placed on wooded trays, and the Curator reports that the ova tasted strongly of turpentine, that possibly these ova may have been injured from this cause, and also that many of the ova were not fecundated.

In 1872, Mr. Baur, the hon. secretary of the society, brought from Tasmania 100 sea trout ova. Only thirteen fish were ultimately reared. They were retained in the pond. These fish had the usual parr marks. One of them assumed the characteristic silver scales of the sea trout at fifteen months; the others did not in the following year, during which time they altered little in size, while the other increased in size rapidly. None of them showed a disposition to spawn until 1873, when the female in smolt scales went up the rill. No action was taken then, but in 1874 a female fish, probably the same (weighing at that time 2½lbs.), having gone up the rill, the Curator placed her in the pond with the brown trout. Next day she and a large brown trout miler were in the rill turning over the gravel. She was stripped. 700 ova taken from her were fecundated with brown trout milt, and 500 fry hatched out from these were placed in the Oreti River in January, 1875. About 40 of the fry were retained in the pond for a year longer, and became very handsome fish, resembling yellow trout, and having no parr marks.

A sea trout smolter, weighing about 3½lbs., was stripped in 1875. The ova were fecundated with milt of male sea trout. About 1,150 fry were hatched, of which 870 were kept; placed in the river Oreti and 250 in the Wyncham. These fish have all the marks of parr; indeed, they appear to be in every respect like the parr with which those who have fished in the Tay have been familiar.

Many brown trout had been reared in the Southland ponds before the formation of this trust, ova having been obtained from Tasmania at different times. In 1871 the fish in the pond began to spawn, and thence forward a great number of both fry and ova were distributed by this society.

For the purposes of this report, and the tabular statement attached, it will be seen that the society, with the aid of this grant, has planted salmon in one river, sea trout in two river systems, and brown trout in all the large streams in the Southland district, except the Aparima, which has been reserved for, and planted with, salmon.

When contrasted with the results of the shipments to Tasmania, those to Southland show a comparative want of success which deserves notice with the view of endeavouring to throw some light on the causes of failure. With regard to the element of time it appears from the report of the Tasmanian Commissioners, in 1864, that the salmon ova that arrived by the Norfolk in that year were placed in the gravel 96 days after having been stripped; that of these ova, out of 10,000 shipped, about 30,000 were apparently healthy, the result being about 3,000 fry hatched; and, by the report of 1866, that from the ova that came by the Lincolnshire in 1866, which were placed in the gravel 104 days after the time when they were stripped, 2,000 fry were hatched.

In the shipments hither by the Mindora, in 1869, she was 133 days on her voyage, and the ova were all dead. The Oberon, in 1873, was 114 days on the passage. Out of 100,000 ova received in Southland only about 300 fry were hatched, of which two-thirds survived for only a few weeks. In 1875 the Timaru was 108 days on the voyage; the ova had been stripped some time before, and all were dead on her arrival. In the three last cases the period exceeded the time of the shipments to Tasmania. In the only instance of success with us prior to the arrival of the shipment by the Durham—that of the Oberon—it is probable that the ova had been stripped at least 120 days before they were placed in the hatching boxes, and therefore not less than fifteen days longer than the period of the ova by the Lincolnshire, the most successful shipment.

Now, Mr. Youl says in April, 1873 (New Zealand House of Representatives, 1873, H. 12), that he had always considered 100 days as the maximum time that eggs could be left in ice and afterwards successfully hatched—says this apropos of being about to open four boxes of ova retained from the shipment by the Oberon. These were opened 108 days after having been placed in the ice, and the ova were successfully hatched, the last of them on the 9th May, exactly 116 days after having been packed in the box.

Other authorities in Britain believe that the period of hatching may extend to 130 days (Russell on Salmon, &c.)

From the report of the Tasmanian Commissioners, 1864, it appears that the ova received by the Norfolk were stripped about 15th January—were placed in the ponds on or about 21st April. The last of them were hatched on the 8th June, being a maximum period of 144 days after exclusion from the parent fish.

A consideration of these circumstances leads to the conclusion that protracted time alone will not account for all the failures, certainly not for that of the shipment by the Timaru.

Then comes the question of packing. In the report of 1864 the Tasmanian Commissioners observe that the ova were best in those boxes in which the moss was loosely packed and the ova subjected to the least pressure, and that the healthiness of the ova bore a direct relation to the goodness of the moss. The report says, “where the moss retained its natural green hue and elasticity there a large proportion of the ova retained a healthy vitality; where, on the contrary, the moss was of a brown colour, and in a collapsed or compressed form, few of the ova were found alive, and all were more or less entangled in a network of fungus.” The Commissioners (Tasmanian Rep. 1866) think that the greater success of the shipment by the Lincolnshire was probably in a great measure due to the lighter packing of the moss in which the ova were imbedded.

Mr. Howard remarks (July, 1875,) that when the boxes were full, and the moss was green, the ova were invariably better; and also that the ova are always worthless when the moss is dry or has “cobweb.” The sphagnum moss has been objected to, but the whole the condition of the moss and the quantity in each box seem to be of more consequence than the kind. In any future shipment the cause of failure, if owing to any defect in the moss, could be easily traced if the boxes were numbered and a record kept of any specialty in the packing of each.

The ova sent from time to time to New Zealand have been packed by the most experienced and careful hands. The Trustees are well assured that Mr. Youl and Mr. Buckland spared no toil and omitted no precaution in order to render every shipment a success, and the enduring gratitude of the colonists of New Zealand is due to these gentlemen, especially to the former, who has laboured longer, and was the pioneer in the field—for the zeal they have shown, and the patience with which they have met and overcome obstacles in the endeavour to naturalise salmon in the rivers of these colonies, persevering in their efforts under many discouragements as those alone, with whom the work was a labour of love, could have done.

The materials of which the boxes are made deserve consideration. When made of pine in some cases the ova contained have tasted of turpentine, which could have been derived only from the timber of the boxes or trap. Mr. Howard found the dead ova from the Timaru shipment taste disagreeably of turpentine.