Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-02-09
MILLIONS OF RABBITS.
Australia Offers Reward of SlOO,OOj
for Their determination.


for Their determination.
"a pair of rabbits will produce
100000 rabbits in two years in Aus
tralia, Is II statement that mt first
seems incredulous, and when James
Watson, of Victoria, made it the other
day to u party of gentlemen they
thought he was TESTING. Yet it is as
true as gospel, Mr.. Watson is one of
the largest ranch owners in Victoria,
Australia, having under fence alone
10000 acres. The problem of how TO
eXtcrminate rabbits is the greatest
question that confronts the people of
Australia to-day, as their entire pros
perity depends upon il. II is in hope
that Yankee ingenuity might be able
to solve this Important problem that
Mr.. Watson now visits America.
you can imagine what terrible
plague the rabbits are" said Mr.. Wat
son, 'when the Australian Government
Is now building fence of wire netting
which, when completed, will be 800
miles long, and which will divide New
South Wales and Queensland. The
rabbits have not yet made their APP
pearance in Queensland. and the fence
is to prevent them from getting over
there.
1--WE have tried hundreds of ways to
get rid of the rabbits. but so far moth
ing has been successful We are only
able to check the increase. About the
best means of doing this Is to scatter
fruit with arsenic over the ground, but
this is very expensive. In this way
have killed 600 rabbits with ten
bushels of sliced apples. Then we
used phosphate of oats, but the trouble
with this is that the phosphate soon
loses its effect. | think the best method
in uso is the ordinary rat-trap, but all
these methods are very expensive.
For instance, il costs the govern
ment of Victoria $l2j,0 600 q year to
keep the rabbits down on the Crown
| government lands. The govern
mcnt pays ten cents pair for all the
rabbits killed on their lands. A good
man can make $40 dollars week kill
ing rabbits. These men use traps and
one man can work 100 traps.
A law has recently been passed that
compels the owner of lands TO keep
the rabbits down. If he should fail to
do this he is fined $50 for the first Of
| Tense, 500 for tho second and upon the
third otfensC the government employs
men to attend to the rabbits at the eX-
! pense of the land owner. In many in
stances owners are compelled to give
up their land, rs the expense is so
| great. The owner of 10. 900 acres is
obliged to employ 100 men for killing
rabbits alone. and rs a result land that
few years ago was worth $50 an acre
is now only worth 81.
81 have found a way by which can
keep the rabbits down and make money
by it, but, Of course, every ranch man
can not do this have started rab-
bit canning factory We can the rab-
bits much the same way that beef is
canned here, and our principal market
is in England, At present ! am can
ming 800, 600 rabbits a year, all of which
are killed off my ranch, and sill this
number does not keep the pest down rs
the Government requires. Iput a rab-
bit and half in u can, and al present
make thirty-seven cents profit on a
dozen cans They are retailed in En-
gland at twelve cents pound, and
considering the high price of beef il
would be supposed rabbits would be-
come favorite dish with the poor OF
England, yet the rabbits are now only
purchased by the higher class, who
consider them great dainty.
How long have we been bothered
with the rabbit About ten years, Rab.
bits were brought to Australia about
twenty years ago from England for
sporting purposes. A pair will usually
produce four does and two bucks. The
does breed when two months old, and
they have on an average four litters q
year You can calculate from this,
and you will find that the statement
that pair of rabbits will produce two
million in two years is not so prepos.
ferrous as it at first appears. brought
man over from South America just
before ! left, and he firmly believes
that the South American skunk would
get rid of the rabbits. Anyway the
Australian Government offers reward
of 100000 for the best plan for theil
determination Harry Waller, il
Philadelphia Press.
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