The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1889. THE RABBIT PEST.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2288, 27 November 1889, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 1889. THE RABBIT PEST.

Thero are a great many persons who have not the smallest idea of the national importance, so far as New Zealand is concerned, of the rabbit question, and who arc inolined to smile at the spectacle of Parliament gravely legislating year aft?r year on the subject of this apparently insignificant little anim&L Bat a very little inquiiy will speedily convince them that there is no subject which deserves more careful attention than this, or which hau a more important bearing on the prospects of the colony. Take for example the fact that during last year there were exported no no less than 12,593,171 skins, and it will be seen that this means a very great deal. For it is quite safe to assume that large numbers of rabbits are killed by ferrets and other natural enemies, the skins of Which do not figure m the exports, while also a great many wounded by guns and dogs doubtless get away to die m their burrows. Allowing for all this it will probably be safe to calculate that fully 20,000,000 of rabbits are killed annually, and as notwithstanding there are large areas of country where their numbers do not appear to appreciably diminish it may be calculated that as many rabbits annually escape as are destroyed. If so, then , we shall have the enormous figure of 40 millions of rabbita existing upon tho pastures of tho colony Let us see what that means. Allowing eight rabbits, great and small, to consume the fcfeed of one sheep it follows that five millions of eheop could live on the keep they con' same. Those five millions of sheep' would represent not less than twentyfive million pounds of wool, which, at the low all-round average of 9d per lb, gives a total of £937,500 annually — or say, nominally, a million sterling— in wool money alone which is annually lost to tho colony, to which adding the value of the increase m our flocks, and two millions of money per annum will not cover the loss which the hosts of the little long-cared enemy of thepastoralißtinflictuponus. Under these circumstances tho expenditure incurred m keeping the rabbits m check is a mere bagatelle, and it, behove 3 the Government and the Stock Department to abate' not a jot of the energy with which they are grappling with the pest. Indeed all: and every moans should bo used to keep it within the lowest possible proportions, and of these the best are, undoubtedly, the liberal use of wire-netting, and tho liberal distribution of poisoned grain.