The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-09-01
PEST TURNED TO PROFIT.
AUSTRALIANS MAKING MONEY
OUT or RABBITS.


yAlHI MN0 llrH2BuGN NOW EInO MtM0Y RAIe
One Means Of Employment Of LAbO,
Prosperity OF the Rabbit Trapperu
plans 20 MN or the Little Animals
By the irony Of circumstances, Just al
the time when DIR. Danyss. tho famous
French bacteriologist, has arrived In Sgd
ney with his tubes OF Observation-Disclosures.
FERROUS microbes which he thinks will OBJ
literate the rabbitp pest In Australia by the
spread Of q contagious discase-the rabbit
il becoming a valuable commercial asset.
n exporter estimates that already Il
brings 81, O0o.oo0 q year 70 the Common
wealth, but Mr.. G. c. Lance, who was not
long ago the commercial agent in London
for New South Wales, prefers to put the
figure at 81 SOC. 900.
The industry, IL IL 20 be remembered,
writes a Sydney correspondent Of the Lon
don Daily Mail, is still in swaddling clothes,
but. Judging from the development Of the
last few years, the million and a half OF
to-day should quickly grow into millions.
There are immense possibilities ahead.
But, Of course, there il DR.. Danyez TO be
reckoned with. It ia exceedingly doubt
full. however. whether he will be permitted
TO proceed to any length with his expert
ments.
Apart from the existing fear that he will
set loose a disease which may be danger
GUS to human beings and to other forms
OF animal life. there is a strong feeling that
with the great and increasing demands for
the carcasses and skins OF rabbits the rodent
will in the ordinary course Of events
cease TO be a pest. And, moreover, il is
coming to be recognized that not only will
the industry bring millions Of pounds to
Australia annually but that it will afford
profitable employment to a vast army of
men. For this reason the Labor parties.
Federal and State, are bitterly opposed to
DR.. Danysz and his scheme.
Already the pastoralists are complaining
Of a scarcity Of rural labor. They are no
longer able to obtain the services Of able
bodied men for 10 shillings a week and their
tucker" For rabbit trapping has OF a
sudden become a remunerative profession
and 1t Is characteristic OF conditions here
that within the last few days a Rabbit Trap
pers' Union has been formed.
The freezing and export firms in Sydney
and Melbourne are sending hundreds Of men
away into the country every week to dis
tricts where the local supply Of trappers
is insufficient n thus there is a steady
absorption OF the metropolitan UNEMPLOYED.
Likely applicants are provided with traps
on time payment and the newcomers are
DldCCu dI HTe Dttlut experienced men. VINO
teach them the routine. AC Narrabri,
Gunnedah, Tumut, Dubbo and some other
places good trappers are earning, according
to one authority, ES a week. Another
authority puts it at III or IS shillings a
dsy
Nc 18th young families to assist them
do even better. In this connection the re-
port OF a country inspector of State schools
to the Public Instruction Department Of
New South Wales is significant. AT the
EFORanN iInnfrEA y hA aaua Sc - . 1sA Q-.IA
task to get children to do any home lessons.
The high price Of rabbit skins induces
parents TO employ their children for half the
night in trapping rabbits. Many families
in this district are earning as much al from
fl2 to go per week at the business. In
many OF the towns there lie a wood famine
IL being impossible to find carriers willing to
waste time drawing wood when they can
earn so much at trapping rabbits. From
this cause also the attendance at country
schools during the quarter now ending will
be greatly reduced"
So much for the workers point Of view.
III individuals and companies who are
finding the capital have equal reason 70 be !
satisfied. The State governments Of New
south Wales and Victoria have provided
cold storage accommodation il Sydney and
Melbourne respectively. but Of late this has
found ridiculously inadequate. and
private enterprise is experimenting it.
Among the firms that supply cold storage
In Sydney are the Fresh Food and Ice Com
pany. turning out l.sOO crates a day; the
Metropolitan Ice Company. turning out
from 500 to 200 crates a day, and the inland
Freezing Company, which has branch
works in several country centres, turning
out 100 crates a day. In addition. the
Government Cold Storage Department
turns out 300 crates a day. and there are a
large number OF smaller storers and freezers
with daily outputs varying from 100 crates
TO 500.
There are twenty-four rabbits in a crate.
and recent prices paid in London range
from ISIS, Cd. TO lis. per crate. according to
the classes in which the carcasses are graded
by Government graders. Considerable
consignments are sent regularly from
Brisbane and Adelaide. and these. like those
from Sydney and Melbourne. go to the
United Kingdom. South Africa, Hongkong. ,
japan and the Philippines. II is to be
noted that the exported carcasses are In
and graded under official super
vision. !
But the profit socruing from frozen
csrcasses is only a part Of the whole profit.
There Is good money in canned rabbit.
The greatest return Of all, however, is
derived from the skins. Last year the
value of the exported skins slightly ex-
ceeded that OF the frozen carcasses, and this
VIII again be the case during the present
year. Every week 100 to lao tons OF skins
are sold in Sydney and about 100 tons in
Melbourne, and the prices have advanced
so per cent. since January.
ne prces now are from twelve pence to
fourteen pence a pound, and on an average
seven skins go TO a pound. The buyers
mostly from the United Kingdom
and from America, but the hat manufact-
urers OF Sydney and Melbourne are large
purchasers. Just now 100000 rabbit
sklns representing an approximate value
OF 10000, are weekly arriving in Sydney.
30 profitable, indesd, has become the
skln industry that many trappers, especially
those IN the far out districts, are devoting
their attention entirely to it. By retaining
the skins and discardinR the carcaases they
avoid the cost and risk Of forwarding the
latter hundreds Of miles TO cold storage.
effect OF this is that exporters are often
apt TO be unable TO get sufficient supplies Of
o arcasses
OF course, an incidental, but important,
advantage will be that the industry will
serve to keep the rabbit pest under control.
In TACT, news comes from Carcoar this
week to the effect that, owing to the activity
Of trappers, rabbits are, for the first time
in the recollection Of the oldest inhabitant.
no longer a nuisance in that centre. An
other advantage will be that the British
h0IiGabOldar will houa Iar1ar .,..I:-