THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, DEC. 17, 1908. THE RABBIT PEST.

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 116, 17 December 1908, Page 2

THE KING COUNTRY CHRONICLE. THURSDAY, DEC. 17, 1908. THE RABBIT PEST.

This year's annual report of the Department of Agriculture, in referring to the rabbit pest, discloses a state of affairs in the King Country which must receive the immediate attention of our settlers. The crusade against rabbits on Crown and Native-owned lands in the district has for years been carried on by the Department, and the report now states that the rabbits on the unoccupied lands is steadily diminishing, while the privately owned areas are becoming more thickly infested. This points to the fact that settlers are not devoting sufficient attention to the pest, and the sooner active steps are taken by all, the better will the result be for the district. The Department of Agriculture has been refered to as the most useful and efficient in the Dominion, and we have pointed out proof of the soundness of this contention in various directions. The Department is waging strenuous war on rabbits and noxious weeds, and only by the co-operation of the settlers, who will receive most benefit from the work, can the best results be obtained. The new settler has many calls on his

time and money, and until his section has reached a certain stage in development, it is often extremely difficult and inconvenient for him to poison his land for rabbits. Moreover, he is apt to discount the value, of poisoning, and

can point to failures in certain instances where this means has been adopted. There need be no misapprehension on the subject. From grim and bitter experience, settlers in other portions of the Dominion have acquired a knowledge of the best msans to combat the pest, and it is recognised that the poisoning method is the most cfiicacious. Tin? Waharapa district some

years ago was over-run with rabbits, and pollard poisoning was resorted to so successfully that the district, today is practically clean. Climatic conditions affect to a certain extent the

success of poisoning, but the exercise of a little intelligence is a more important factor still. The inspectors in charge of the various districts are always ready and willing to advise and assist the settlers, and leaflets bearing on the subject may be obtained from the Department upon application being made. It is to be hoped every effort will be made' to cope with this and other pests, and thereby render it, un-

necessary for the inspectors to enforce the arbitary powers with which they are invested for the purpose of dealing effectively with a serious evil.