The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-09
SCARCITY OF RABBITS
A Problem in Supplies that Hating Industry is
 Facing.
Facing,

but as a matter of fact, the rapid de-
 velopment of Australia's agricultural ! resources is being felt here very mo- | uceably- Great quantities of the fur 1 that Is used in the manufacture of hats is procured from Australian rab-
 bits. These animals exist in countless | colonies in the uncultivated sections \ Of Australia As many as 15.O00 rab- tbits skins are shipped from a single | locality a week. Upon cultivated land l rabbits are a destructive pest and the | farmers exterminate them as quickly
 and thoroughly as possible. Hence | with Australia's development, rabbits, are growing scarce and the problem of
 the matters Is to get a supply of fur. In this connection the following ar ticle from a Melbourne, Australia, pa
 per of recent date is interesting.
 The time appears within measurable
 distance when the rabbit pest will be ] permanently under control in practi- | cally the whole of the country that is | fit for either agricultural or grazing.
 In 1906-7 the total number of rabbit
 skins exported from Australia to the | United Kingdom was 9S, ,312, 100 From
 1903, when the total was 57 7.422 coo. there
 has been an increase up to 1906 but in
 the season of i907-s there was a drop
 of about two millions. the figures for
 that year being s6.462. 900. In the fol- | lowing year. 190s-9. the number of skins exported was 72 907. POO. showing | decline of nearly 25 0OO, 900. As good E16Sohc n4Nt DEtl CAptTlclCGu over | nearly the whole of the state during the past two years. the reduction in the rabbits indicated by the figures quoted is in no degree to be atribut-
 ed to the influence of drought and a consequent shortage Of grass Inquiry in different parts of the country in
 which the rabbit pest has for many
 years been most severely felt has e.ict-
 ed the fact that the decline is general.
 Skin and carcass dealers all have the
 same story to tell-that there has been
 great decrease in the quantity of
 rabbits coming forward in the past
 years or so. The reason for this is obvious enough in those portions of
 the state in which there has been
 special activity in the breaking up of
 large estates. Walla Walla. for i'm
 stance, has only been In the cccupa-
 tion of farming for a few months. yet areas the rabbit has practically ceas-
 ed to exist. At one time that part
 was alive with rabbits. From the Ia
 bletop railway siding. few years ago, some 5000 rabbits per week were dis
 patched; now the number Is compara-
 lively nothing. From the Forbes and
 Parkes districts 1t was recently re-
 ported that there had been a decrease of from 8 to 75 per cent in the num-
 Der of rabbits met with according to particular locality. In the country ly-
 ing between the Murrumbidgee and
 the Murray and more especially about
 WdBBd- AlDuTy anu cor
 owa, traders state that there is a very marked shrinkage in the quantity of rabbits and rabbit skins which find
 their way to the market now. In some of the rough. mountainous country
 bordering on the higher reaches of the
 great rivers rabbits are still plentiful.
 and probably always will be; but in
 these regions they have not the scope
 for harm that they have in the more
 valuable agricultural and pastoral
 areas ofs<zew South Wales. The signi- ficant thing is that the pest is either
 retreating or being wiped out with the
 advance of settlement.
 Population and small holdings are
 fatal to the rabbit A well known
 Riverina farmer writes that he cannot
 understand why any agriculturist. un- less he has more land than he should
 have, need be worried about the rab-
 bit: or why In the settled districts
 there should be any necessity for in
 spectors. poisoning or experiment.
 When this man took possession of his
 farm trappers were getting SO and 70
 pairs of rabbits each per day on the land. The whole area was infested
 with them At the present time dili-
 gent search by men and dogs might
 discover one or two rabbits on this land-and the probability would be
 that they had made their way in from
 some adjoining holding. The method
 adopted here was that of digging out,
 and burning off dead timber or any cover Wnlcn might De anOrued TOT the pest. In no instance was poison re-
 sorted to-a practice which is inef-
 fective except in so far as 1t keeps
 the rabbits in check. and which has
 wrought. havoc among the indigenous
 birds of the country It Is quite true
 that in some parts of the state the useful birds do not suffer to any ma terial extent. but this does not apply generally. The habits of birds differ considerably in different districts and aNr0rdfn0 a thn Varfarfnr fFt ha tural food supplies; and there is not the slightest doubt in the minds of in- tellisent observers that enormous de- struction has taken place among the vice in killing insect pests. and thus preserving the balance of nature. to say nothing of what has been the ef- feet among furred animals. in some districts once noted for their abun- dant supply of 'possums the animal is now practically extinct. The trapping of 'possums in the ordinary way by traders in the skins had little effect in diminishing the supplies until the rabbit trouble assumed serious pro- portions. and poisoning was resorted to. And experience has shown con- clusively that excepting under very special circumstances poisoning is en- tirely unnecessary.
 Netting. digging out. and burning of of harbours Is a system which has proved highly successful on both large ana Sulail nOlOlnES. BeCauSe or the first cost some people will not adopt this method and in the end they have to pay more heavily for paltering with the question. The actual cost Is really only that involved in the digging out of the burrows What is expended on netting and destroying harbours may be regarded as permanent improve ments. which greatly increase the | stock-carry capacity of the land Talk | ing the experience gained in Rivina | as a guide. 1t may be safely assert | ed that if everyone set about the task | of getting rid of the pest In the man. | ner referred to. the whole of the occu- | pied country would in the course of | O few years be free of rabbits. assum- | ing that in the meantime the govern | ment discontinued the practice of pro- viding sanctuary for the creatures on | reserves The farmer quoted above is | emphatically of the opinion-speaking l from his own personal experience that if trappersand poisoning were left | severely alone, and the system he so | successfully employed were brought in |