THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1912. THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10551, 6 February 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1912. THE RABBIT NUISANCE.

It is fortunate for the AVairarapa that the rabbit is treated as a pest, an olhat concerted action is taken to secure it* extermination. If this were not s<f, the country, would soon'; be over-run. with the rodent, and .the. grazing of stock would be seriously interfered with, if not rendered absblutelv impossible. In the; South..-Is-land the rabbit is treated as a commerical produot, and thousands. are aniiually trapped and exported. While this remains iso, it is not difficult to Understand the un adaptability off large areas for closer .settlement, and 'the gradual diminution in the export of frozen meat. ■ The .Government will be compelled, sooner or later, to close down upon the system of rab-bit-trapping for profit. The sooner this is done, the quicker will the large areas of practically lincultivoted land' be turned to useful account. In the "Agricultural Journal" of this month Mr E. Clifton, Chief of the Stock Division, refers pointedly to the subject. He says that the business of preserving rabbits ha*, assumed large proportions. Some landowners demand a royalty or charge from trappers for the privilege of exploiting their country. It is assured that so long as the rabbit:as-permitted to be considered marketable for export its number will not be effectively diminished. The system of trapping for export extends-over a large area of country. The'interests- in trapping occupy the attention of many people. The trapper, the landowner, the storekeeper (who usually is the financier of the trapper), the carriers (who collect from the trapper and transport the rabbits to the railways), tiw merchants (who supply the storekeeper), the freezing Avorks and the shipping companies are all concerned. ' T'hese interests are incompatible .with effective control of the pest. There are many representations made that this industry—for such it is—should not obtain the sympathy and support of the farmer. It is probably unavailing to represent 'that the -crucial point is, Wlliach is the mom remunerative to the community the live stock of the farm and tlto crops, or the exploitation of the rabbit as an article of export ? There icannot be stock and crops of the farm as well as the rabbit, and iboth be profitable. The one Jives at the cost of the other.