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

-FTONDNIINy VI NNg eFO h@EhNs
-Pians 10 kiII or the Little Animals.
BY the irony Of circumstance, just at
Che time when DR.. DanysS, the famous
French bacteriologist, has arrived In Sgd
nav with his tubes Of -pasteurellas '-mys-
eerIous microbes which he thinks will OBJ
Kterats the rabbit pest in Australia by the
npraad Of a contagious disease-the rabbit
A becoming a valuable commercial asset.
One expofter estimates that already 1t
brings E2, 600 600 a year to 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 81 500, 900.
The industry, it il to be remembered,
writes a Sydney correspondent Of the Lon
don Daily Mail, is still in swadhling 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.. Danysz to be
reckoned with. IL is exceedingly doubt
ful, however, whether he will be permitted
to proceed to any length with his expert
Ments.
Apart from the existing fear that he will
Get 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, it il
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
r. L.. a. IkN. &a-As>~
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 IL 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
lie insufficient and thus there is a steady
absorption Of the metropolitan unemployed.
Likely applicants are provided with traps
on time payment and the newcomers are
placed at first beside experienced men, who
teach them the routine. At Narrabri,
Gunnedah, Tumut, Dubbo and SOM other
DlAleS ROOu IIdDpCIS Al q hhiAk dNOoHdllA
TO one authority, E5 a week. Another
authority puts 1t at III or is shlllings a
day"
Men with young families 10 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
present juncture,' he says, 1T is a difficult
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 as from
El2 TO go per week at the business. In
many Of the towns there is a wood famine
Il being impossible to find oarters wiling to
waste time drawing wood when they can
sarn 30 much at trapping rabbits. From
this cause also the attendance at country
schools during the quarter now ending will
SO much for the workers point Of view.
The individuals and companies who are
finding the apita have equal reason to be
satisfied The State governments OF New
South Wales and Victoria have provided
cold storage accommodation inSydney and
Melbourne respectively. but Of late this has
been 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 100 crates a day; the
Metropolitan Ice Company, turning out
from 500 to 200 crates a day, and the Inland
FEefZl0A company NulCu la DEAAlCu
WORKS in several country centres, turning
out lid crates a day. In addition. the
Government Cold Storage Department
turns out 800 crates a day. and there are a
large amber OF smaller storers and freezers
with daily outputs varying from 100 crates
to sec.
There are twenty-four rabbits in a crate.
and recent prices paid in London range
from 15s. cd. TO lis. per crate. according to
the classes in which the carcasses are graded
hu GnyaTnmanf nTnhaF9 GnnRlnATAnIQ
c~onsignments 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. 1t is TO be
noted that the exported carcasses are in
spected and graded under oficial super
vision.
But the profit accruing from frozen
carcasses 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
will again be the case during the present
year. Every week 1870 to 40 tons Of skins
are sold in Sydney and about 100 tons IN
Melbourne, and the prices have ADVANCED
so per cent. since January.
The prices now are from twelve pence to
fourteen pence a pound, and on an averaRf
seven skins 90 to a pound; The buys,
come mostly from the United Kingdom
and from America, but the hat manufact-
urers Of Sydney and Melbourne are large
purchasers. Just now 100000 rabbit
skins, representing an approximate value
OF 10000. are weekly arriving in Sydney.
So profitable, indeed, has become the
skin industry that many trappers, especially
those in the far out districts, are devotlng
their attention entirely to it. By retaining
the skins and describing the carcasses they
avoid the cost and risk of forwarding the
latter hundreds of miles TO cold storage
The effect OF this il that exporters are often
apt TO be unable to get sufficient supplies OF
carcasses
OF course, an incidental, but important,
advantage will be that the industry will
serve to keep the rabbit pest under control.
In fact, 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
householder will have larger supplies, at
. smaller cost, Of a good, wholesome, pala-
table article Of meat diet.
Putting On n Glove.
From WOmnr'e Lite.
There Is a wrong and a right way TO put
on Gloves said a dealer recently.