KIWITEA RABBIT BOARD.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 223, 20 August 1937, Page 12

KIWITEA RABBIT BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Kiwitea Rabbit Board was held at Kimbolton, Mr J. W. Batchelar presiding. Also present were Messrs A. Lawson, E. A. Palmer, W. P. Shaw, D. T. Copper and H. I>. Richardson. The chairman welcomed Mr Richardson to the board. The Department of Agriculture advised that the appointment of Mr Richardson to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr W. L. Grice, had been gazetted Inspector Dorwood reported as follows: —“Since the last meeting, I have been engaged in making personal inspections. Although weather conditions have not been favourable, especially during the month of June, a lair amount of rabbit destruction work has been carried out, and fairly satisfactorily results obtained, especially where poisoning has been done. There are still a few properties to be poisoned, and I have arranged for this work to be done during the early part of August. Should these latter poisonings turn out as satisfactory as I have every reason to expect they will, my area taken as a whole will then be in good order; in fact, in my opinion, better than it has been for some years past. Even so, there will he no opportunity for anyone to slacken off in their efforts to deal with the pest, for already in the more favoured localities the rabbits have started breeding. I wish to take this opportunity to impress on all settlers the necessity of getting a supply of gas and to carry a small supply With them to fumigate every burrow they can find on their respective properties. It is only by continual warfare against the pest that we can hope to keep them down to the minimum. Every rabbit destroyed during the spring months is worth ten times the number killed a few months hence, if we are to gain our objective of getting tho pest down and keeping them to the irreducible minimum. Inspector Fraser reported: “I must ask all property owners in my area to he particularly -careful to see that the necessary winter poisoning is completed without delay, as rabbits are starting to breed, and the board is very anxious to see that a good clearance is made before the spring growth of grass. Care must also be taken to destroy all stops and burrows, and the stray rabbits got after with dogs and gun. Any help I can give will be given cheerfully.”