BUNNY MAKES A BOOM.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 November 1919, Page 12

BUNNY MAKES A BOOM.

MORE PROFITABLE THAN SHEEP. Bunny has become a profit jn his own country (says the punster); ami certainly with a parcel of New Zealand skins touching the fabulous figure of 350 d pellb in London, with trappers netting their £IOOO per season in Central Otago, and ■with a cool £750,000 added to the wealth of Otago in 12 months from the export ot rabbit skins, Mr. Rabbit has earned full title to that respect which every Britisher renders to property. A unique kind of property he is, too, claiming his own food, ranging his own territory, and requiring no attention other the" final one of extermination, whose difficulty may be assessed from the calculation that in 10 years a pair of rabbits will produce 3,000,000 of the species. So long as present prices rule, he cannot breed too fast for the professionals who tackle him on the grand Male, or for the rapidly growing auxiliary force of amateurs who have been lured to the game by the get-rich-qnick yarns that have obtained currency lately. It is stated that quite a number of men have thrown up posts to get trapping ground; according to report, too, it is common for parties blessed vvitn motor cars, motor cycles, or other means of quick transit to speed out into the country at the week-end and collect sufficient Brer Rabbit to pay •petrol expenses for a month. A lot of these yarns may be set down as pure table, for the amateur is as unhandy at rabbit trapping ae at any other vocation; but at the same time the accretion of these yarns to an industry that had no status and rare plums a few years ago indicates what a factw- it ha« become.

_ It would seem, when inquiry is made judiciously in the right quarters, that tne causes which have produced the boom and the factors which sustain it do not promise continuance over a Ion" period of years. The price of 350 d per lb, which was quoisd from London, is, of course, an outside price—evidently'obtained for a parcel of super-does of the thin pelted, heavy furred type, suitable for dyeing to imitate sealskins. There are roughly 2S grades of skin, ranging from the super-doe to the sucker, many of which are of good enough quality for use. by the furrier. The phenomenal prices ruling for these as' compared with a few years ago—one exporter records that while in January, 101s, he sold super-does in England at lflJd per lb a similar lino sold last week at 270 d per' lb —are due to a combination of unusual circumstances. In the first place, the war being over, countries such as Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Beteium and Russia, to say nothing of the United States and England, are all competing tor the raw material to restart the factories that were in action before the war. Again, all these countries were disorganised by the demands and necessities of war, and Russia, in particular, has not been able to supply the market with her furs. In their absence the cheaper turs—and ,n particular rabbitskins—have been substituted for sealskins and sabes the versatile Americans having perfected a process quite recently that produces from the cheaper kinds' a fur closely resembling sealskin and commanding a big price. FASHION IS THE CHIEF FACTOR. But the chief factor is Fashion, who rules womankind with a rod of iron i'urs have an increasing vogue with the sex and as long as the fashion lasts high prices will rule for rabbitskins "If it becomes not the thing.for women to wear turs" said one exporter, "there "ill be only the hatters using furs and prices will go back rapidly. But 'thev will never recede to pre-war figures"

AMERICA "BULLS THE MARKET." Another exporter attributed the soaring prices to America's manipulation of the market, and prophesied a sudden fl.cn, when they "got from under" •Anmi'ica,' he said, "has taken practiwily the whole of the rabbitskins from -New Zealand, and anything .going into London ,s being pushed up to extreme pi .. sby the Americans. They hoiml,. lot o, lines cheap at the begin,,!,,., of the season mid are forcing the market up for other buyers. But when they pond of their manufactured stock they will get right out of the market; at oast that is their usual practice. Tf that happens prices will come back at once, At the same time, while doubting that the present fxtrome price, would be duplicated next'season, this expert considered that, on account of the tact that no surplus stocks could be earned forward, prices would certainly rule high next season, t ' GOLDEN CHANCE IN THE CENTRAL. In the meantime, at any rate, it would appear to be more profitable to grow tabbits than sheep. Mr. R. s Black avers that a golden opportunity presents rtwlf in the Central to make * pi le of r m 7'- a ," V he S!lme time ~ the leg,., sing of the area so urgently needed. With the probability, facing „g« he said "that it will be at Jeast two years before sufficient ships are available to remove the produce of this country the tinning of rabbits for export in conjunction with the skin export is eminently worth considering. The Farmers' Union should organise to catch the furs in the winter, when they are valuable A summer skin is worth 2s a pound, as against 12s for a winter skin; and if , system of killing off were organised the revenue accruing would be more like £2,000,000 than the £750,000 quoted If some of the wild, wastes of Central Otago were closely wired and the rabbits cleared out-the sheep at the same time being taken off to give the ground a rest-it is probable that the new fresh grass would spring, and the re<rassin°problem be solved rapidly, during the prosecution moreover, of a handsomely profitable side industry." J Whether or not an extensive scheme of this kind will be undertaken, at least it is certain that the shrewder farmers have sized up the possibilities of the rabbit and are preparing to take their toll of him. It is stated that in many cases now royalties are being asked feline privilege of trapping over certain (grounds; while over others the owners | are reserving the privilege to themselves !•—Dunedin Star.