The most important infectious disease of pigs is salmonellosis, caused mainly by Salmonella choleraesuis and occasionally by S. typhi-murium. It is found wherever pigs are kept and may affect all members of a herd. Acute, subacute, and chronic forms of the disease are recognised. It is the main cause of pigs' deaths and failure to thrive. Necrotic ulceration of accidental or surgical wounds, caused by a mixed spirochaete and fusiform bacillus infection, is frequent and may affect entire herds. Ulceration is progressive and, if untreated, may lead to death. Localised in the digits it causes footrot and, in the spermatic cord (after castration), scirrhous cord. Mild forms of Inclusion body rhinitis are often found in young pigs and have marked effect on their thrift. The only important internal parasite. Hyostrongylus rubidus is found in all pig-rearing districts and infects pigs of all ages. Ascaris lumbricoides, Stephanurus dentatus, Trichuris trichura, Oesophagostomum dentatum, and Macracantho-rhynchus hirudinaceus are less significant parasites. External mange due to Sarcoptes scabiei, and infestation with the pig louse, Haematopinus suis, are common. Both cause loss of condition.

Internal parasites of cattle normally affect animals under two years and usually less than one year old. Important nematodes are Osteryagia and Trichostrongylus axei; Haemonchus contortus, Cooperia spp., and Bosicola radiatum are also found, but are seldom significant. Pulmonary helminthiasis in young stock is commonly caused by Dictyocaulus viviparus; infestation with the liver fluke, Fasciola hepatica, is found in Hawke's Bay, Gisborne, Central Otago, and other smaller areas, the intermediate hosts being the freshwater snails, Simlimnea tomentosa and Limnea alfredi. Infestation with the cattle tick, Haemaphysalis bispinosa, is sometimes heavy in scrub and rough grazing in the north of the North Island, but there are no tick-borne diseases. Coccidiosis in calves and trichomoniasis in adult cattle are the only protozoal diseases worth mentioning. Infection with coccidia of the Eimeria species causes many losses in dairy calves between three weeks and six months; Trichomonas foetus, although probably widespread, rarely causes abortion and infertility.

Bacterial diseases of sheep (other than clostridial) are widespread. Foot rot, caused by Fusiformis nodosus in association with Spirochaeta penortha, is a main cause of loss, especially in high-rainfall country in the west and north. Outbreaks are common in wet weather and up to a third of all sheep in a flock may be affected. Less common in distribution and sporadic in its occurrence, foot abscess, due to infection with Spherophorus necrophorus, also causes much severe lameness, though it is less widespread, and occurs only spasmodically. Infection with Brucella ovis associated with epididymitis in rams and abortions late in pregnancy in ewes was formerly common. Preventive vaccination has reduced the importance and incidence of this disease. Caseous lymphadenitis is common in the South Island; less common in the North Island. Although the causal organism, Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, seldom affects the general health of the animal, the typical lesions in the lymph nodes prevent the export of diseased carcasses. When hygiene at shearing is neglected as many as 30 per cent of the older sheep in a flock may catch the disease. Contagious ophthalmia (pinkeye), common in flocks in late summer, is due to the organisms Colesiota conjunctivae. Recovery is normally spontaneous after a few weeks, but the complaint may affect half of the animals on a property and interfere with normal husbandry. When flocks are held in close confinement for a day or more there may be outbreaks of salmonellosis. The disease is uncommon, but is found throughout New Zealand. Up to 25 per cent of a flock may be affected, usually fatally. Most cases are associated with Salmonella typhi-murium, but occasionally other types of salmonella are involved. Abortion in ewes caused by infection with Vibrio foetus is common all over the country and may reach a very high incidence within flocks infected for the first time. It shows itself typically as an abortion storm early in the lambing season, which grows less as the main lambing commences. Recovery is normal and a solid immunity results. On some farms in South Canterbury Johne's disease is regularly diagnosed in older sheep and up to 5 per cent a year became clinical cases. Experimental vaccination has given promising results. The disease has not been reported elsewhere. Fleece abnormalities associated with bacterial invasion are widespread, particularly in prolonged wet or humid seasons. Discolouration of wool fleece rot and mycotic dermatitis are regularly diagnosed and lead to the rejection or downgrading of fleece wools.

The virus disease contagious ecthyma or scabby mouth is common in summer and may spread to every animal in a flock. Sheep rapidly lose condition because of difficulty in feeding; thus the disease is especially serious in fattening lambs. Vaccination is widely used on those infected farms which are known.

Internal and external parasites still cause large losses by death and emaciation and entail immense expenditure in prophylaxis and treatment. The primary parasite, Haemonchus contortus, is ubiquitous and causes severe outbreaks of disease in warm wet weather. Common nematodes secondary to poor nutrition are Ostertagia circumcincta, Trichostrongylus axei in the abomasum, and other Trichostrongylus species in the small intestine. Of less general importance, but capable of causing severe losses within flocks, are parasites of the Cooperia, Namatodirus, Strongyoides, Bunnostomum, Trichuris, Chabertia, and Oesophagostomum species. Heavy infestations of tapeworms of the Monezia species are found in lambs and may predispose to enterotoxaemia. Lungworm, Dictyocaulus filaria, is occasionally responsible for severe losses, but is not common.

External parasites are widespread. Annual dipping is required by law. It is an offence to drive lousy sheep or to offer them for sale. Parasites include the body louse, Damalinia ovis, the lice, Linognathus pedalis and L. ovillus, the ked, Melophagus ovinus, and (in the North Island) the tick, Haemophysalis bispinosa. Fly strike is common in summer, the primary blowflies being Lucilia sericata and Calliphora stygia. Scrotal and leg mange from Chorioptes ovis is widespread and the itch mite Psorogates ovis has been confirmed in a few fine-wool flocks in the South Island. The only important protozoal disease of sheep is toxoplasmosis, due to Toxoplasma gondii. This is common in pregnant ewes and is responsible for perinatal deaths of the lambs of up to a third of the ewes in a flock.

The clostridial infections are a group of diseases, widespread among sheep and fairly common among cattle, which even today cause heavy losses, although cheap, and efficient vaccines are readily available. Clostridial organisms can form spores and remain dormant in the soil for a long time. Blackleg in cattle or blood poisoning in sheep caused by Clostridium Feseri (chauvoei) often follows docking, shearing, dipping, vaccination, assisted lambing, or any other procedure liable to cause trauma. Enterotoxaemia or pulpy kidney, due to infection with C. perfringens (welchii type D), is an important disease of sheep. It is common in forward single lambs on lush pasture or crops, possible associates with heavy infestations of the tapeworm Moniezia expansa. Wound infection with C. septicum is the common cause of navel ill in lambs; infection can also follow, for example, shear cuts, docking wounds, and dehorning. Black disease in sheep is confined to Hawke's Bay and Gisborne, where it is associated with infestations of the liver fluke Fasciola hepatica. The casual organism C. novyi (oedemations) multiples in areas of liver necrosis caused by the migration of immature flukes. Tetanus (C. tetani) may occur in lambs after docking or castration. Though widespread, it is confined to small areas or to individual farms.

Facial eczema a seasonal disease of sheep and cattle, becomes serious whenever the weather favours the growth of the causal fungas Pithomyces chartarum. Stock eating the dead herbage carrying the spores of this fungus suffer severe liver damage, with consequent photosensitivity and damage to parts of the body not protected by wool or hair. The disease is confined to the North Isoand and small areas of the extreme north of the South Island. It has been described in Victoria, Australia.

Important bacterial diseases of cattle are tuberculosis, Johne's disease, brucellosis, mastitis, and leptospirosis. A national scheme for eradicating bovine tuberculosis has been functioning for some years. It began with cattle used for town milk supply and is being extended to all dairy cattle. The tuberculin test and slaughter method are used in areas where compulsory testing is declared. Before eradication began it was estimated that 10 per cent of dairy cattle in the North Island and 2 per cent in the South Island (though very few beef cattle) were affected. The incidence of the disease has been greatly reduced and within five years will probably be negligible.

Johne's disease is of local importance in, especially, Taranaki and Waikato. In confirmed cases the beasts are slaughtered and compensation paid. Vaccination of calves in the first few days of life has proved an effective control and will probably be used extensively when tuberculosis has been eradicated. Brucellosis is well controlled by vaccinating calves and is part of the routine management of over 80 per cent of dairy farmers and an increasing proportion of beef farmers. When a national vaccinated herd is built up it will be possible to eradicate the disease by testing and subsequent slaughter of the animals which react to the test. Antibiotics have reduced the importance of the various forms of mastitis which for so long severely hindered production in many dairy herds. But the resistant types, particularly those caused by staphylococci, remain and cause serious losses in individual herds. Losses due to leptospirosis are uncommon in adult cattle, but many are carriers; and redwater in calves causes marked seasonal losses on many properties.

The main epidemic viral diseases of cattle do not appear in New Zealand, but malignant catarrhal fever, infectious rhinotracheitis, and cow pox are common. Though the acute form of malignant catarrh (a notifiable disease) is uncommon, a mild infectious nasal catarrh (characterised by marked nasal irritation) is widespread. Its incidence within herds varies from 10 to 100 per cent. This disease can greatly lower milk yield. Cow pox is not caused by the vaccinia virus and is a comparatively mild condition of the udder and teats, with a spontaneous recovery in one to three weeks.

Deficiencies of the trace elements cobalt, copper, iodine, or selenium induce widespread natural diseases of animals. There is also a type of copper deficiency associated with an excess of molybdenum and this is more widespread than that arising from a simple deficiency of copper.

Cobalt deficiency or “bush sickness” occurs widely. It is characterised by loss of appetite, wasting, anaemia, failure to thrive (particularly in young animals), and eventual death, unless the deficiency is corrected. It affects mainly sheep and cattle, though it can occur in all ruminant animals and does affect goats and deer. Severe cobalt deficiency is now rare, for the deficient areas are known and are corrected by regular topdressing with cobalt sulphate. Cobalt-deficient areas have been classified as “severe”, “moderate”, or “marginal”. The classification is based on the responses of animals to cobalt and on analyses of animal livers, of pastures, and of some soils for cobalt content. The accompanying map shows the cobalt-deficient areas.

Copper deficiency is of two kinds: (i) an uncomplicated deficiency found on some peat and sandy soils; and (ii) a deficiency of copper, associated with high molybdenum content in the pasture. This occurs on most peat soils, on some pumice soils, and on some marine and river silts. Some of what is now the most highly productive dairying land in New Zealand, the reclaimed swamp lands of the Hauraki Plains and the Waikato, were almost impossible to farm economically before copper deficiency was recognised as the cause of disease. Cattle of all ages and young sheep are affected. Symptoms vary widely, depending on the severity of the deficiency and whether or not it is complicated by excess of molybdenum. Lambs and calves can suffer unthriftiness, retarded growth, ataxia, and bone fragility; and adult cattle become poorly conditioned and anaemic and their coats often lose colour. On peat lands, when there is excess molybdenum in the pasture, the characteristic symptom is a persistent, severe, debilitating scouring whenever there is a flush growth in spring or, to a less extent, in autumn. Copper sulphate mixed with the usual fertilisers is an effective, and widely used, method of control.

Iodine deficiency causing goitre (mainly in newborn animals), most often affects sheep. Goitre is likely to occur in parts of Otago, Westland and Marlborough, large parts of the Canterbury Plains, between Wanganui and Palmerston North, and in places near Waipukurau, Napier, and Gisborne.

Widespread Selenium-responsive diseases are economically important. Experiments and field trials begun in 1958 have demonstrated that selenium can prevent white-muscle disease in lambs, an associated barren-ewe problem, some forms of unthriftiness in lambs and calves, and exudative diathesis in chicks. There is evidence also that Hepatosis dietetica in pigs and paradontal disease of sheep can be controlled by the use of selenium. Live-weight responses in lambs were obtained in areas shown in the accompanying map.

Metabolic diseases cause serious losses both of dairy and of beef cattle during calving and for some time after. Hypocalcaemia, hypomagnesaemia, and acetonaemia, either singly or together, are common in mature cows and can quickly be fatal if treatment is delayed. Hypomagnesaemia, or grass tetany, attacks calves, dry and milk cows, and males. Early treatment gives good control, but relapses take place and there seems to be a district and seasonal variation in response. In beef herds Hypomagnesaemic tetany is assuming more importance and its greater incidence is often associated with improvement both of pastures and of soil fertility.

Hypocalcaemia, or lambing sickness, is common throughout New Zealand; its incidence in individual flocks may be as high as 25 per cent. Pregnancy toxaemia, also common in ewes and associated with stress (for example, multiple pregnancy, starvation over a period, a check in feeding, or unusual disturbance) can, in some seasons and under certain conditions, cause serious losses.

Isolation, and the acceptance of quarantine and disease control, have kept New Zealand livestock free of the more serious epizootic diseases which still ravage domestic and wild animals in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Except for the Maori dog and rat introduced in the fourteenth century, there were no land mammals in New Zealand until Captain Cook released pigs, goats, and sheep on his second voyage in 1773. Only the pigs survived. Cook introduced more domestic animals on his third voyage (1777) and, from the end of the eighteenth century, whalers, sealers, missionaries, and the first small groups of settlers imported some few animals. All present species of domestic animal in New Zealand were established during the immigration of the 1840s.

Sheep scab, a serious skin disease due to infestation with the mange mite Psoroptes communis ovis, was recognised in 1849 and a Scab Ordinance was passed. Scab was eradicated by 1880 through rigorous measures including, in the later stages of the campaign, the slaughter of diseased animals. Bovine pleuro-pneumonia appeared in the South Island in 1864. The seriousness of the disease was recognised; it was eradicated by slaughter. Virus swine fever was recorded between 1895 and 1902, but did not become endemic. It has since been successfully excluded, except for two outbreaks in 1932 and 1953 close to the ports of Wellington and Auckland. Both outbreaks, caused by the illegal introduction of virus-infected meat in ships' garbage, were quickly eradicated. Scrapie, a serious disease of sheep of obscure origin, appeared in 1952 in a South Island flock which had imported stud animals, and there was a second outbreak on another property before the disease was eradicated.

In 1876 an Act was passed “to restrict the importation of cattle and other animals into the Colony of New Zealand”; section 2 prohibited the entry of “all cattle, sheep, horses, swine, goats, and other animals … which are likely to propagate any infections of contagious disease amongst men or animals”. Since then the enactments controlling the importation of animals and animal products and stipulating the conditions of their entry have been made progressively more stringent to maintain New Zealand's relative freedom from communicable animal diseases.

New Zealand is the largest meat-exporting country in the world. It ships about 500,000 tons of meat to more than 30 countries, most of it to Britain (sheep and lamb) and to the United States (beef). Meat by-products are important, since only half the weight of an animal is dressed and sold as meat; the estimated proportionate values of the dead animal efficiently used are: meat, 80 per cent; hide, 12 per-cent; by-products, 7 per cent. By-products account for almost 20 per cent of a total meat-export value of £100 million a year. The hide or skin, hair or wool, hoofs, bones, intestines, glands, and fat produce the following by-products: hides, skins, and pelts; wool and hair; runners and casings; tallow; meatmeal, dried blood, meat and bone meal, etc.; and miscellaneous (including rennet, glue, gelatine, surgical gut, neatsfoot oil, glands for extracts, etc.).

The fellmongery department handles skins and hides to produce pelts, pickled hides, wool, and hair. Exports in 1960 included 25,988,000 sheep and lamb pelts; 1,236,000 woolly skins; 807,000 cattle hides; and 1,029,000 calf skins. Sheep skins are treated with depilatory paint to loosen the wool which is rubbed off by hand, so leaving the pelt. The wool is washed, sorted, and sold; the pelt is sold for making fine leather for gloves, bags, and the like. (A New Zealand freezing works may handle 10,000 sheep and lambs daily at peak season.) Cattle hides are cleaned, salted, pickled for a month, and sent to local or overseas tanneries.

The gut house or gut department deals with all viscera, except edible livers. After its removal from carcasses on the floors above, the viscera is sent down chutes to the gut house in which the intestines (runners), fat, etc., are separated. Casings: Sheep and lamb runners are processed by special machinery to avoid damage. The mucous membrane and the outer layers must be removed from the intestines to form the finished (sausage, etc.) casings. An average lamb casing is about 80 ft long–the 18 million lambs slaughtered each season produce roughly 300,000 miles of casing. In 1960, 9,410,000 lb of casings were exported to the United States for sausage skins.

The rendering department renders the fat and unwanted animal tissue into tallow and residual meal, either by “wet rendering” in a digester (something like a domestic pressure cooker), or in a “dry melter”, in which an outer jacket, heated by steam, cooks the contents of an inner vessel in their own moisture at a pressure of 40 lb a square inch.

Tallow: Edible tallow (dripping, etc.) comes from selected clean fats. Much of this can be now rendered down at low temperatures by prior grinding of the fatty tissues to release most of the fat. In 1960, 72,214 tons of tallow were produced, including 49,661 inedible, 21,537 edible; lard, 230 inedible, 786 edible. This is almost double the pre-war production.

Meat meal, meat and bone meal, bone meal, blood and bone fertilisers: These are obtained from the dried and ground residue left after the tallow has been extracted. The difference in the end product depends largely on the difference in the ratio of protein to bone in the original material. Blood meal (dried blood) and liver meal are also produced, the latter often including ground, dried lungs also. In 1959, 47,500 tons of meal were produced, including 33,114 tons of blood and bone, 3,941 of bone dust, 3,229 of blood meal, and 5,416 of others. Export of meat meal is controlled to provide enough for local poultry feeding. 9,600 tons of liver meal were exported. (Meat extract can also be classed as a by-product of the canning department. In 1960, 339,000 lb of extract were produced.)

Miscellaneous by-products: The glands and other organs saved for pharmaceutical purposes, though less in bulk, are important as a source of hormones; their importance to human welfare far outweighs the monetary returns from them.

Calf vells or stomachs (from bobby calves) are dried and used for the manufacture of rennet. In 1959, 373 cwt of dried vells, worth £96,677, were exported.

Pituitary bodies from the base of the brain are sometimes collected and saved for the manufacture of pituitrin, pitocin, and ACTH. These are very small and hard to handle, as they must be frozen quickly. The pancreas gland, near the stomach, is often saved as the source of an important proteolytic ferment called trypsin. Insulin is made from a special part of the gland. Parathyroids, spleens and adrenal bodies, gall or bile are saved for either pharmaceutical or industrial use.

by Ian Greville Watt, M.SC., B.V.SC., Director, Meat Division, Department of Agriculture, Wellington.

(Latest figures for this article are not readily available, March 1965)

The Wildlife Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs administers the Southern Lakes, Taupo, and Rotorua Fishing Districts. All other districts are administered by acclimatisation societies who are responsible to the Marine Department which controls freshwater fishing under the Fisheries Act of 1908. Most New Zealanders treat fishing as a sport and do not join clubs or other organisations. Hence there is no national society of fishing clubs organising all anglers in New Zealand, but there are a number of good clubs in various districts. Perhaps the biggest and best known is the Tongariro and Lake Taupo Angling Club, based at Turangi.

Licence fees for all fishing districts are usually £2 10s. a season for men, £1 5s. for women, and 7s. 6d. for juveniles, except at Taupo where the fees are £3 10s. for men, 2 for women, and 7s. 6d. for juveniles. For overseas anglers visiting New Zealand there is a universal licence fee of £2 for men and 1 for women; this permits fishing anywhere in New Zealand. The acclimatisation society fishing licences do not allow anglers to fish in those districts controlled by the Wildlife Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. For these a separate licence is required.

The fishing season in all acclimatisation society districts, except Nelson, is from 1 October to 30 April. The Nelson season opens 15 October and closes 15 April. The Southern Lakes season extends from 1 October to 30 April. Tributaries of the main lakes have a season from 1 October to 31 May and all other waters of the district from 1 November to 31 May. The Lake Rotorua season is from 1 July to 30 June; all other waters in the Rotorua Fishing District are from 1 October to 30 June. The Taupo fishery season extends all the year round. There are other minor restrictions, such as fly fishing on certain waters only, but information relating to these matters is clearly stated on licence forms.

by Cyril Thomas Bunt, formerly Journalist, Information and Press Section, Tourist and Publicity Department.

The silvery sea-run brown trout is king in South Island waters, although there are many fine fishing waters carrying heavy stocks of domestic brown trout. The Mataura River, boundary of the Southland and Otago Acclimatisation Societies' districts, is the greatest brown trout water in New Zealand. Southland's Waiau River offers all types of water and splendid rainbow and brown trout fishing, plus Atlantic salmon averaging 2½ lb. Other good Southland waters are the Mararoa, Aparima, Oreti, and Makarewa Rivers.

The Clutha River, in the Otago Acclimatisation Society district, is New Zealand's largest river, carrying the waters of three magnificent lakes–Wakatipu, Wanaka, and Hawea. Many sea-run brown trout are caught in the lower reaches of the Clutha and all sections of the river offer good fishing. The Taieri, Catlins, Waikouaiti, Waipori, and Shag Rivers carry good stocks of brown trout, while Lakes Mahinerangi, Waipori, and Onslow produce many fine bags of heavy brown trout averaging 2 lb 8 oz.

Trout fishing in the Waitaki and Waimate Acclimatisation Societies' districts is regaining its former high standard as a result of the work being done by officers of the two societies. Access to most waters is fairly easy; the Waitaki and Hakataramea Rivers give the best sport, with rainbow and brown trout averaging 3 lb or more.

The waters of the Ashburton and South Canterbury Acclimatisation Societies' districts are noted for quinnat salmon and rainbow and brown trout. The boundary between the two societies is the Rakaia, which contains heavy stocks of quinnat salmon and also of brown trout, averaging 3 lb. Sea-run brown trout averaging 3 lb may be taken from the Ashburton River. Other good waters are the Hinds and Rangitata Rivers and the many high-country lakes in the Mount Somers area and the Tekapo region.

The North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society district is one of the five best fishing areas in New Zealand. The Waiau River carries a good head of brown trout averaging 3 lb and has a fine quinnat salmon run from February to April each year. Good fishing is also available in the Hurunui, Ashley, Waimakariri, and Selwyn Rivers. This district has some fine lakes well stocked with rainbow and/or brown trout and small salmon.

Excellent lake and river fishing, both for brown and for rainbow trout, is offered in the Marlborough and Nelson Acclimatisation Societies' districts. The Rai River is one of the Dominion's best dry-fly waters. Brown trout averaging 4 lb and rainbow trout averaging 3 lb are taken from this water; both species would average 3 lb in the Ronga, Tunakino, and Opouri Rivers, all tributaries of the Rai. Two other good fishing waters in the Marlborough district are the Pelorus and Wairau Rivers. North American anglers are enthusiastic about Nelson district fishing waters because the scenery is similar to that of the west Coast of the United States and Canada. The Riwaka, Takaka, Cobb, Wangapeka, Buller, Travers, Gowan, D'Urville, Sabine, Owen, Mangles, and Maruia Rivers all carry good heads of fish, as do Lakes Rotoiti and Rotoroa. Being sparsely populated, the West Coast and Westland Acclimatisation Societies' districts have a heavy trout population, averaging just over 3 lb in their lakes, rivers, and streams. All waters carry brown trout. Rainbow and quinnat salmon are present in the Taramakau River, boundary of the two societies, but are really limited to Westland waters. The Grey River system contains the major fishing waters of the West Coast district, but fine fishing is also available in the waters of the Buller River system. The Westland Society district has many fine rivers and lakes, the best fishing being at Lakes Kaniere and Mapourika, both of which contain brown trout averaging over 4 lb. The two districts offer good fishing in beautiful scenic conditions, but some of the country is really rugged and anglers are advised to talk to local anglers before planning trips.

The Southern Lakes Fishing District, a region of more than 12,000 sq. miles, has a greater variety of waters than any other area of New Zealand. Atlantic and quinnat salmon, sea-run brown trout, and brown and rainbow trout are all acclimatised in the area. The district is administered by the Wildlife Branch of the Department of Internal Affairs. It can be considered as five areas—Haast, Wanaka-Hawea, Wakatipu, Te Anau and Manapouri—each of which has a resident field officer available to advise and assist anglers on places and methods of fishing.

“Anglers' Eldorado” was the name tagged to New Zealand in the late 1920s by Zane Grey, one of the world's best fishermen. The name still applies to the Dominion so far as rainbow and brown trout fishing are concerned. From thousands of miles of fishing waters–lake, stream, river, and dam–the average weight for rainbow trout is 3 lb, and for brown trout, 3 lb 8 oz. Small wonder that almost 200,000 anglers paid a modest licence fee in New Zealand in the 1962–63 fishing season. There is no trout fishing to speak of above the Waikato district in the North Island, although one river, the Kaihu, does carry rainbow trout averaging 2 lb. The Rotorua Fishing District, which embraces Rotorua, Waikaremoana, and Gisborne fishing waters, is probably the finest freshwater fishing area in New Zealand. The average weight for this vast region is 4 lb 8 oz.

Famous fishing waters in the Rotorua district include Hamurana Springs, Ngongotaha, Waiowhiro, and Utahina Streams, and the Ohau Channel, all entering Lake Rotorua. Great fishing lakes in this area are Okataina, Tarawera, Rotoiti, Rotoma, and Rerewhakaaitu. In the Waikaremoana section Lakes Tuai and Kaitawa have an almost incredible average weight of about 9 lb both for rainbow and for brown trout. Good fishing is to be had in the Rangitaiki River and its tributaries.

Although conditions and access are much more difficult in the Gisborne–Northern Hawke's Bay section, fine fishing is available in the Motu, Waikare-Taheke, Ruakituri, Waitahaia, Mohaka, and Waingakia Rivers. Part of the upper Waikato River system lies in the Rotorua Fishing District. This includes Lakes Aratiatia, Ohakuri, Atiamuri, Whakamaru, and Maraetai, the result of man-made dams in a series of hydro-electric generating stations superimposed on the old Waikato River fishery. These dams or lakes offer steadily improving fishing, both for rainbow and for brown trout, and many local fishermen believe that some of the best fishing in New Zealand will be found here in a few years.

The Taupo Fishing District–which is centred on Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake–is world famous for its fighting rainbow trout, the aggregate catch on rod and line reaching a remarkable 1,000 tons a year of brown and rainbow trout. Good fishing is nearly always obtainable somewhere on the lake itself and fine catches may be had by fishing the river and stream mouths and trolling or casting from the shore.

Most famous of all New Zealand fishing waters, the Tongariro River enters Lake Taupo near Turangi. This was the scene of Zane Grey's many thrilling battles with big rainbow trout and he devoted a large section of his popular book Anglers' Eldorado to this fine water. Other good fishing may be obtained in the Waitotaka and Waimarino Rivers and in the Tauranga-Taupo, Hatepe, Waitahanui, and Waikato Rivers. The Western Bays waters of Lake Taupo and the Waihaha, Waihora, Whanganui, Kuratau, and Whareroa Rivers and streams contain heavy stocks of rainbow trout which average 3¼ lb.

The Waimarino Stream is the gem of the Waimarino Acclimatisation Society's district. It is a dry-fly water and carries brown trout averaging just over 4 lb. Another good fishing water in this district is the Makatote, which contains many rainbow trout averaging 3 lb, and brown trout averaging 4 lb. The upper reaches of the Wanganui River offer brown and rainbow trout averaging 3 lb.

Nowhere in New Zealand has the angler a better choice of easily accessible water than in North Taranaki, where 20 recognised trout streams radiate in a fan pattern from the base of Mount Egmont and the Pouakai Range. These waters are outstanding for variety and ease of access. The Manganui River is the largest trout-carrying stream in Taranaki, its brown trout averaging 3 lb.

Auckland, Tauranga, Hawke's Bay, Stratford, Hawera, and Wellington Acclimatisation Society districts all have good fishing. The best, however, is found in the back country and only the fit and active angler can hope to gain access to these waters.

(1820–97).

Canterbury pioneer and iron founder.

A new biography of Anderson, John appears in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography on this site.

John Anderson was born at Inveresk, Midlothian, Scotland, and as a boy was apprenticed to a blacksmith. He worked 12 hours a day, attended evening classes at the School of Arts at Edinburgh and gained his diploma and medal. In 1847 he married Jane Gibson and came out with her and his eldest son, John, in the Sir George Seymour in 1850. He went to see the Deans Brothers who advised him to make a start in Christchurch rather than in Lyttelton; he spent his first night on the plains at Riccarton. He set up his forge at the Bricks, the farthest point up the Avon which a boat could reach, and built a small cottage there. His first account–for shoeing–is framed and hangs in the office of Andersons Ltd. He bought a town section on the south side of Cashel Street and in February 1852 moved his forge and his household there. He bought the section which backed on to his first one and gradually spread through to Lichfield Street. Besides his ordinary work, he would sometimes beat a sovereign into a wedding ring for a young couple.

In 1857 he imported a steam engine and boiler and machine tools, and the first real step forward in the history of the Canterbury Foundry was made; for, of course, he was much more than a plain blacksmith. He was an engineer, as he was soon to prove. In 1865 he turned out the first iron lamp post for the streets of Christchurch; it was set up outside Tattersalls in Cashel Street. He also had many orders for screw wool presses. When low wool prices turned the minds of men to flax milling, he designed and manufactured flax-stripping machinery. When Canterbury was fully stocked and before refrigeration had come to the rescue, he made boiling-down plants for the works at Templeton for the Hon. William Robinson at Cheviot Hills and other runholders. In 1863 he made the machinery for the Christchurch Gas Co. of which he became a director. He sent his two eldest sons to Merchiston School, near Edinburgh, and they remained in Scotland until their engineering training was completed.

At the election for the first Municipal Council of Christchurch, when 20 of the foremost citizens were candidates, he was elected second in the list, the first place going to John Hall. When, later, the Christchurch City Council became an incorporated body, Anderson was chosen as its second Mayor. The Duke of Edinburgh visited Canterbury during his year of office; and when the welcoming procession marched through the streets, it was led by the Canterbury Foundry staff carrying their own banner–light blue with a large locomotive in the centre. To Anderson fell the task of presiding at the civic luncheon in honour of the Duke and he carried out his duties in a manner highly creditable to himself and to the pride and delight of his fellow citizens. Soon afterwards the citizens presented him with a silver tea and coffee service to mark their appreciation of the way in which he had represented the city. Anderson had a boyish simplicity, a trait in his character which endeared him to people. He never made a speech without some quaint turn of phrase which produced roars of laughter. To commemorate his year of office he presented an iron fountain with a light on top which was placed on the footpath in front of the Bank of New Zealand.

Every year he entertained his men at a dinner; the number had risen to 30 in 1868. He was one of the first to support and put into practice the Saturday half holiday. When Governor Sir G. F. (Bowen) visited Christchurch, he was shown the Canterbury Foundry as one of the sights of the city.

Anderson was an original director of the New Zealand Shipping Co. and once when he made a trip to England the board asked him to inspect the ships they had building there and satisfy himself that the iron was of good quality. Before he left Christchurch he was given a dinner at which 100 sat down. Rolleston proposed his health, and told him to get his portrait painted when he was in England. On the day he left, there were unprecedented public demonstrations of goodwill.

All his life Anderson was a pillar of the Presbyterian Church, and he made many long trips throughout Canterbury to new settlements to encourage new congregations. He was among those who sent a request to Scotland for a minister for Canterbury and when the Rev. Charles Fraser proved unsatisfactory, Anderson led the party which determined to form a second congregation in Christchurch, he himself laying the foundation stone of the new St. Pauls. When another minister was wanted, he went with two others to Wanganui to persuade the Rev. Elmslie to come to St. Pauls. They succeeded and Anderson's eldest daughter became Elmslie's second wife.

John Anderson founded a firm which, starting off by making ploughs and harrows, became one of the largest contractors in New Zealand. Andersons Ltd. prefabricated some of the biggest and most difficult railway viaducts and bridges. They made gold dredges and coastal steamers, and sent large churns to the other side of the world. The company, moreover, has remained always under the management of one of the family and is an example of small-scale capitalism where every employee is known personally to the management and where, for that reason, relations between them tend to remain friendly. That this has happened is due largely to the honourable and just character of the founder. Anderson died on 30 April 1897, aged 77.

by George Ranald Macdonald, Retired Farmer, Kaiapoi R.D.

• Press (Christchurch), 30 Apr 1897 (Obit).