H.—7

16

the good ova all safely placed in the boxes, I counted the bad ones and found there were 6,080. Attached to this you will find a record of the daily temperature of the water, also of the number of bad eggs removed from the boxes daily, the latter amounting to 1,316, which, with 260 deformed ones added to 6,080, makes a total of 7,656 to the bad. And as I have not yet counted the young and healthy alevins, I estimate there will be about 12,000 lively young salmon, about five weeks old. But I will let you know the exact number as soon as possible. The first young fish came wriggling out of the shell on the 28th March, but it was the 3rd and 4th April before the hatching was general, and some lingered in the egg until the 25th April. You will see by this that the hatching extended over a period of twenty-eight days. And lam glad to say very few of this lot died in the hatching, as is usually the case in Home shipments. From the time the ova were placed in the boxes the temperature of the water gradually lowered until the 15th April, when the thermometer showed 46°. It rose again to 56° on the 25th, but again went down to 49°. With reference to the packing, &c, I may say that the case for convenience and economy I think was all that could be desired, and of the same description as the cases in which the Otago society have for several years past received shipments of ova from Sir James Maitland. The packing also was of the same neat and careful manner, and evidently had been performed by a person of experience, the moss being clean and carefully selected, and of the usual kind. I may also add there were no cloths used in packing this ova. This is, so far as the preservation of the ova is concerned, quite immaterial. I believe the ova will live amongst the moss longer without it, although it may facilitate the unpacking after a short duration. I have, &c, J. P. Maitland, Esq., F. Deans, Curator. President of the Otago Acclimatization Society.

Hatching of Salmon Ova per steamer "Ionic," at the Otago Society's Ponds. (The temperatures were usually registered between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m.)

No. 28. The Hon. the Commissioneb of Teade and Customs to the Agent-Genekal. Sib,— Government Buildings, "Wellington, Bth April, 1886. Eeferring to previous correspondence in connection with the shipment of salmon ova sent by the " lonic," I have the honour to inform you that that vessel arrived at Wellington on the night of the 21st ultimo, and that the next day the ova were distributed among the various Acclimatization Societies. The eight boxes of salmon ova in the chamber were in very good condition; but the ova in the separate box were all dead, being covered with byssus; and I regret to say the ova in the freezingchamber were all dead. I am informed that the fertilization of the ova appears to have been unusually good, and that the packing was very well done. My attention has, however, been called to what appears to be a fault in all British-packed ova—that is, the thick, heavy coating of moss between the layers of ova. It has been suggested that the ova would carry more easily and with less loss if a small quantity of moss was carefully " teased out " in a thin light layer. The thick coating sets tightly on the top of the ova, and byssus often appears—generally where the drip from the ice seems to have been the greatest. I only throw out the suggestion for consideration, without supporting it.

Date. Bad Eggs removed. Temperature of Water. Date. Bad Eggs removed. Temperature of Water. larch 25 . 26 . 27 „ 28 . 29 ■ 30 „ 31 Lpril 1 „ 2 . 3 „ 4 „ 5 . 6 . 7 „ 8 „ 9 „ 10 „ 11 . 12 „ 13 . 14 ■ 15 No. 306 133 114 84 56 65 86 39 26 38 30 18 19 Deg. 54 52 52 51 50 49 50 51 51-3 52 55 55 51 43-3 47 47 48-3 47 46 47 47 46 April 16 „ 17 „ 18 „ 19 . 20 . 21 . 22 . 23 . 24 . 25 . 26 „ 27 „ 28 . 29 . 30 May 1 . 2 . 3 „ 4 . 5 • 6 . 7 No. 12 32 36 38 14 38 Deg. 46 43 50-3 53 50-3 50-3 51 53 54-3 56 52 51 49 50-3 50 50-3 50-3 50 51 51 50 49 33 33 23 20 10 13