BABBITS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4804, 15 August 1876, Page 3

BABBITS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir—Judging from the reliable evidence furnished from various sources of the importance which the question of the rabbit nuisance has assumed to the colonists of the southern part of JS"ew Zealand, and the serious loss ■which it appears will certainly follow to many of the inhabitants of the Southern Island, unless the nuwance can be abated, may I be allowed to trespass upon your space, and say a few words on the subject. I would suggest to those principally interested in getting rid ol the pest to consider whether the following scheme might be feasible or not, viz., let a joint stock company be formed, with a moderate but sufficient capital (the amount required being easily estimated by practical persons), raised by the issue of shares of say £1 each, so that all would be able to join by the purchase of either one or more shares, according to their means and their interest in the destruction of the vermin. Let a central depot be established near a station on a trunk line of railway, for the purpose of preserving the flesh of the rabbits when killed, and of preparing and packing their skins for sale in the most profitable market. . Let outposts be established, and men employed under proper surveillance to kill and obtain the bodies of the rabbits, with regularly established communication with the central depot. The supply of dogs, ferrets, ammunition, nets, &c, to the men employed for the destruction of the rabbits would, of course, be a matter of detail; and other minor details which would necessarily crop up would be settled by the management. It would, in fact, if the idea were to be carried out, be a kind of Hudson's Bay Company on a small scale, but without giving any power to the company over the owners or occupiers of the territory. It appears to me that an establishment of the kind referred to would be of great advantage to the Southern part of the colony. If the scheme were properly carried out in detail it would give employment to a considerable number of men ; it ■would be at any rate, in all human probability, self-supporting, even if not actually remunerative to the shareholders ; and as the abatement of this pe3t is considered absolutely necessary for the sake of a large part of the pastoral interest, I venture to suggest that even if there •were no great direct pecuniary profit, there wonld result an indirect gain to the sheepowners who might take up the shares ; in other words, it would be " killing two birds with one stone." First, by giving an opportunity of investment of capital with a reasonable prospect of a return in the shape of interest ; and secondly, by getting rid of the pest, which has increased to such an alarming extent, and which seriously, unless abated, threatens the reduction of the value of the public estate of the colony.—l am, &c, Sportsman. Wellington, August 12.