The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-08-21
RABBIT PLAGUE THREATENED.
Government Investigating the I'M
portation of Belgian Hares.

i. =. Hdl1eCT, ASSISTANT CnteI OF the
biological survey in the department of
agriculture, has undertaken with a view
of discovering whether its wholesale i'm
portation and propagation does not in
volve a great danger to our fruit growing
and kindred interests. In California and
other states of the far West, the Jack
rabbit has long been regarded as a pest
and In Australia and New Zealand the wild
rabbit has proved most destructive. These
facts convey a warning which Secretary
Wilson believes we should heed
Before 1854 rabbits were unknown in
Australia. In that year the proprietor of
Barwon Park near Victoria, introduced
a few specimens of the common rabbit OF
Europe. The animals were turned loose
and little was thought about them for
fourteen years. Al the end of that time
they had conquered the continent They
had multiplied till, like the seed of
Abraham, the offspring of the first half
dozen pair were as the sands of the sea.
They ate everything thas was green,
running the sheep ranches. gnawing the
bark Of fruit trees, and attacking garden
vegetables and other small crops. The in
jury wrought to agriculture and herding
interests was estimate at millions of
rounds yearly.
Then che people awoke to the necessity
of checking the scourge. Under the slim
illus of legislation in South Australia,
Victoria, New South Wales. New Zea-
land, Queensland and Tasmania slaugh-
ter began in 1879. 1t spread till not less
than $50 rabbits were destroyed in
New South Wales alone in 1887. For
twenty years the Australian governments
and the farmers have kept up a steady
fight against the rabbits. Every manner
of death-dealing has been tried from pois-
on to "electrocution." Up to 1888. the gov
ernments had expended more than IS, 000,-
0O0 in their efforts to exterminate the
pest At one time a reward of $4,000
was offered for the best practical means
of killing the animal by wholesale, ana
solutions were proposed by 1.456 persons.
No one secured the prize. The only way
The Australians have discovered for es-
Gaping from the rabbit is to fence him
ont Thousands of dollars are spent an
nually on rabbit-proof fences
The experience of this country with the
jack-rab bit is another bit of narrowing
history In the Western states bountics
are offered. amounting in some places TO
five cents a head. Kansas has paid more
than $4,000 in rabbit bounties. In Calfor-
MIA it has been found necessary to or
ganze regular rabbit drives in order to
reduce their number. In these drives, a
troop of men afoot and on horseback,
scour the country in an extended skirmish
line beating the brush and driving the
animals before them. and finally into the
wide mouth of corral made of light wire
fencing with a V-shaped opening, of which
the two ends are several miles apart.
Then the corral gates are closed and the
rabbits are beaten to death with clubs.
Al a Grand Army rabbit drive at Fresno,
Cal, two years ago. 10000 rabbits were
killed. In the San Joaquin valley it is
estimated that 100000 rabbits were killed
in drives between 1888 and 1888. II has been
observed that the wolf and the coyote have
shown that they can be very useful to
man by killing rabbits, and in many West
ern states it has been found best TO take
the bounty off the bigger beasts in order
that they might become more abundant
and prey upon the smaller ones. But We
have not yet had recourse to the Austria
Ian device of inoculating the rabbits with
measles This experiment was not Who'll
ly successful, as the healthy animals
showed an unwilingness to take the dis
ease
These are a few of the things Secretary
Wilson and Dr. Palmer hava in mind as
they watch the importation and distribu-
ton of the Belgian hare. THE Belgian
hare in captivity will probably do no
harm" said DR.. Palmer in discussing the
matter. I'VE are not prepared to say it
4 apprehensive of what may happen in case
i proper safeguards are not taken. While in
4 the West recently, Secretary Wilson heard
that there were no less than $1,000 Belgian
hares in Los Angeles alone. AS they
were introduced only year ago last win
ter, this is a large increase. We have been
told that several thousand have broken
bounds and are at liberty. II is almost
Inevitable that sooner or later the ami
mails should break or burrow out. and IL
a proper check were not applied they
might gain foothold in this country and
rival the pest of Australia"
The history of the Belgian hare in this
country is brief, but full Of action. AS
nearly as can be learned 1t began with
an article in one of the Sunday newspa-
pers of Los Angeles. The article was
written merely as an interesting feature,
but there was an immediate response of
interest and inquiry, and hare raising
sprang into a thrifty backyard indus
try" 1t grew fat on newspaper advertis
ing and spread to Denver Kansas City,
Chicago and Indianapolis, and has even
manifested itself in some Eastern cities.
II was first exploited for its profits, on
the ground that there was market for
the meat at fifteen to twenty cents
pound and for the fur for the manufac-
ture of electric SEAL But the rapid spread
Of the industry and the demand for good
breeding animals soon resulted in max
ing the hares too valuable to kill The
values have increased to the point where
they are believed to be largely specula-
tive, as in the case of the Dutch tulip
mania. and fine animals are now held to
he worth from $500 to $1,000 apiece.
That the rabbit has a commercial value
and utility is not denied by the Depart
men of Agriculture. On the contrary,
Secretary Wilson calls attention to the
fact that our felt hats are made from rab-
bit fur, and that the greater part of this
fur is imported from Australia. Some of
10 comes from Europe, and the smallest
part from the wild rabbits of this coun-
try. In one year. from July, 1894. to July,
1885, London imported from Australia
81, $4,000 skins, at O total value of $1,000
900. A third of the London importation
comes later TO New York. 1t is estimat-
ed by one of the leading hatmakers of
the East that his industry consumes 49,
100000 skins year, yielding 100000
pounds of fur, valued at $l.9500O0, ex
elusive of the cost of cutting. The skins
are also used for making jujube, sizing
and glue,
At present prices, however, the Belgian
hare is more valuable to the fancier than
TO the Matchmaker. The department has
no figures TO show how many have been
imported during the last eighteen months,
but is Is known that they are coming
in steady stream, from the frequent
teegrams of induirv which arrive from