Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-23
RABBIT-SKINS FOR MARKET, Long-Rared Pelts by Millions ImPort- ed from Australia and New Zea. land,

So hhohh ahu NC" LeAs
 land.
 From the Washington Star.I
 "Here is set of sables fit for a prin- cess," said the dealer. ''Fifteen dollars seems cheap for them, does it not, That is because they are really made of rabbit skins from Australia. The fact is that there is hardly any fur in the market at present that is not initiated closely by the skillful preparation of these same long cared belts. New Zealand also exports them to the number of 10000, ,000 yearly
 Their production is one of the most i'm portsnt and profitable industries of that colony. Most of them are shipped to European cities, where they go through the necessary processes of manufacture before
 being disposed of to the retail merchants
 The art of coloring rabbit hair has attained
 such high degree of perfection that it can
 be made to counterfeit seal, otter, ermine
 or almost any other sort of fashionable fur. The skins are largely made into felt
 hats, which are very beautiful and soft to
 the touch. When the fur is long it is some times cut in two and the finer or inner portions are mixed with wool. Various
 machines have been invented for construct ing hats of rabbit pelts, some of which distribute the hair with marvellous ra- pidity and evenness on revolving metal cones.
 "The rabbits are skinned immediately upon being killed, the heads, feet and all the fat being removed. If the weather is fine the pelts are dried in the open air, but in bad weather they are hung up under sheds. When thoroughly dried they are turned outside in to protect the fur from injury, and then they are tied in bundles of dozen to twenty each and packed in bales, each of which contains from 5000 to 3, 800 skins. A little oarbolic acid pow der is used in the packing to preserve them from attack by insects. In this crude state dozen, according to quality.
 "The history of the rabbits introduc- ton into Australia and New, Zealand affords an illustration of the damage man may do by interfering with the distribution of ami mals which nature has chosen to make in | world. When Csptain Cook, the celebrated | navigator, first visited those countries he | found a fauna entirely different from that I of any other part of the world. In Aus | tralia gigantic marsupials like the kanga- | roo, were chiefly conspicious, while in New Zealand the only land mammals were two | varieties of the rat and and of the common | bat. Since then 'acclimatiZation societies have done their best to introduce there all | sorts of creatures on four legs and two legs that could be brought from elsewhere. In many instances these efforts resulted most unfortunately. Several years ago some dozen pairs of common. gray rabbits were imported for the purpose of supplying | sportsmen with an object for the chase.
 The occasion of this experiment was made one of rejoicing, and the beasts | at 1anca xxyifh srRaaahaa on1 ha atc | to welcome them. They multiplied so fast | that the people did not have to wait long for all the sport of that kind they could desire. In fact, they soon overran the country in such numbers that it became a | question whether they or the colonists should occupy the land Great areas were
 entirely denuded of vegetation by them, so that the sheep died by millions and the | raising of crops became almost an impos- | sibility.
 l Rabbits begin breeding when they are | six months old. In the comparatively cold
 and unfavorable climate of England, | whence the first pairs were brought, they
 bred seven times year, but in New Zea-
 land and Austria, where the grass grows | always, they produce young every month. At this rate it is estimated that 8 single pair will have l, ,000, 900 descendants with
 in two years and half, eight young ones
 being brought forth at s litter. Every
 imaginable plan has been tried for destroy
 ing them. Hunting and trapping are not | effective. Ferrets were imported by hun
 dreds. Inasmnch as they are natural enc mics of the rabbits, it was thought that
 they might accomplish something, Un- fortunately, they did more harm, than good,
 having as keen an appetite for poultry as
 for the animals they were expected to de