Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1877-03-07

| Will WeeuS IIldC tHe SHeep began W
perish from starvation. No hoe
welded by merely human hands could
eradicate these weeds, and there was
a prospect that the grass would be
completely eXterminated and the bust
ness of sheep-raising destroyed. 1t so
! happened that these weeds were of a
variety which is held in high estima-
ton by the ordinary English rabbit,
and it therefore occurred to certain
wise men that the introduction of rab-
| bits would save the Queensland pas
lures. The suggestion was promptly
| adopted, and whole cargo Of partic.
ularly hungry rabbits was imported
and let loose in the fields.
The result more than answered the
popular expectation. The rabbits de-
voured the weeds with a steady ener-
| gy worthy that of a small boy at a
Sunday-school strawberry festival,
and before very long there was not a
weed left in the colony. Unfortunate
| ly, the rabbits did not pause when
their legitimate business was finished,
| but fell to at the grass and vegetables,
DIS if the latter were second course
and they had only whetted their APP
petites on the weeds. Moreover, they
increased with alarming rapidity. Not
| only did they evince determination to
eat any given thing in the colony, but
they swarmed in the streets and houses
to that extent that life became almost
uncomfortable to the unhappy colonists.
They galloped over the beds of troubled
| sleepers at night, they infested the
kitchen and the store-room, and they
gnawed the books, household linen and
the extremities of helpless infants
with Unsuitable appetite and impudent
boldneSs. Heavy old gentlemen were
daily tripped up by rabbits on the side
| walk, and even during church services
ladies were in the constant habit of
leaping upon the seats, violently shak
ing their skirts, and frantically i'm
ploring the nearest man to "take it
away 1t was plainly evident that
unless something was speedily done to
suppress the rabbits, Queensland
would become wilderness bowling
exclusively with those hungry beasts.
The rabbits had exterminated the
weeds, but new kind of animal was
| fmperatively needed to eXterminate
the rabbits. -
Now, the weasel is the natural foe
of the rabbit and hence it was deter
mined that the next crop of Queens
land animals should consist of that
sleepless and penetrating beast. a
ship-load of .weasels was accordingly
imported, and at present they are rev.
cling in rabbits. The rabbits fairly
melt away before them, and the weas-
els, with delight beaming from their
happy faces, pursue them to their hid
| ing-places and massacre them by
thousands. 1t is estimated that with
in the next six weeks there will not be
a live rabbit in Queensland, and that
the soil, enriched with the remains of
millions of the departed beasts, will
produce grass at a rate never before
known.
So far the Queensland people have
practiced the system of rotation with
eminent success. The four successive
crops of grass, weeds, rabbits and
weasels have thriven wonderfully, and
! they are now ready for a new crop.
If, however, they undertake to return
at once to grass, they will make Sc
rious mistake. Wildcats, and not
| tended should follow weaSels. In fact,
unless the colonists import very large
quantity of the best quality of wild
cats, they will soon find that their
WeaSelS are quite as Improbable as
were their rabbits. To SOW weasels
one year and grass the next would be
unscientitic and unsatisfactory where
as wildcats, if sown the next season
| after a harvest of weasels, will not
only flourish luxuriantly, but viii COM
| pletely crowd out the undesirable
second growth of the previous crop.
After a crop of wildcats, science
points Enthusiastically to crop of IT,
gers. These might be distributed over
the land at intervals sufficiently wide
to permit of the simultaneous growth
of a crop of wolves-just as the farm
er plants pumpkin-seeds between his
| hills of corn. AS to what should sue
coed the tigers, authorities differ, but
it is probable that the early elephant
would prove a good and remunerative
crop. The truth is, rotation in ami
| mails is wider in its scope and neces-
sarily slower than rotation in yegeta-
bles. The Queensland colonists should
not, however, be discouraged. Let
| them go on in their present path, SOW
! ing new animals every year, and trust
ing that in time they Will arrive at the
proper period for planting grass, and
thus complete the most satisfactory
! experiment of rotation that agricul-
turists or biologists could uesire. y.
| Y. Times.