RABBIT BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3672, 26 November 1890, Page 2

RABBIT BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the Jdrth Wairarapa Babbit Board was held in the, County Chambers yesterday, Present-Messrs W. E, Beetlmm (Chairman), Maunsell, Groves, Moore, 'and Murray,

_, Tne minutes of the previous meeting vero read and confiimed,"'

In reply to inquiries made by the Board, several property holders in the Marlborough district communicated thoir opinions with regard to Stavely's paste for tho destruction of rabbits. .

A letter was read from tho N.Z; Loan and Mercantile Agency Co, stating thoy would keep the Board posted up with ajvices ro shipments of stoats and weasels.

Several stockowiiers wrote, stating that they paid their tax under piotest. The Secretary reported a balance in tho Bank of £317 Is 2d, and rales collected, with subsidy, £955' 14s lOd.

It was decided to ask tho press to publish tho correspondence with reference to Staveley's pasto. Tho Secretary was instructed to adply to the Government for subsidy duo on rates collected.

Accounts amounting to £B3 sslod woro passed for payment, and also an account due to the Loan and Mercan-. tilo Agency Co, for stoats and weasels.-

Owing to nn omission'< having occurred in file striking of the Board's rates, Mr Maunsell moved that this Board decides not to collect any further instalments on' the' rate struck on June'.2lst on tho stockowners list, beyond the first instalment, and to at once take steps°to strike a new rate. The Chairman seconded.—Carried, . It was decided to give notice at once that it is tho intention of the Board to strike a new'rate of Id on sheep and 5d on cattle on the stockowners list of 1890, A potition was read from a number of property owners, requesting that the report oE the inspector be submitted to the Board and reviewed before prosecutions are made for failing to destroy rabbits, On the motion of the chairman it was decided that tho consideration of the question referred to in the petition be deferred till next meeting.

inspector's, hepout, The report of the Inspector was read as follows: Sir.- Since hist meeting of the Board a great deal of my time has been taken up attending prosecutions in tho Resident Magistrate's Court against owucrs who failed to comply with notices to destroy' the post on tlieir properties. In three instances convictions resulted, and in two other cases the informations were dismissed on the ground of an informality, the Resident Magistrate ruling that two offences could not he charged on tho one information. This ruling will have an important (.earing on all future cases, and* the question can uow only bo settled in the Appeal Court as to whether the Magistrate is correct iu his rqling or not, and as this would be a somewhat expensive pr.ccdure the Board may not.care to undertake it, but as tbe matter at issue concerns every future prosecution, whether undertaken by the Board or the Government Inspectors, the Babbie Department might be induced to bear a portion of the coat of testing a case. On any future prosecution, tho difficulty can, I apprehend, be got over by laying two Boparate informations, one for not haviug commenced to destroy the peat, and another one for having so ; commenoed and not continuing to ; destroy, With regard to the two informations which were dismissed,"! i shall be glad of instructions from the i Board as to whether they desire mo to lay fresh informations. In the i portions of the djstrioc I have i inspected I may state that the pest is ; being generally well kept under; this applies particularly to the country in the northern part of tho district from which I havo just recently returned, There are, however, some instances, of neglect, and a conseqqout increase of ; the rabbits, a,nd. it may probably be ' fomid. necessary to institute prooeed- _ fags in these oases unless an imine- [ diato reduction takes place. The I season, owing to the absence of heavy r vain, has been unusually favorable for r the pest increasing rapidly, yet not- ( withstanding this, tl\e n#er ol ( young rabbets, seen, are much less thagniight. he anticipated; this I ' attribute to the natural enemy killing ; the young iu the burrows, to the , more general use of the spade or i grubber in digging out the burrows, | and the aystera now in vogue wjth most owners in paying, for tye young aswe'l as olej rabbits,; You. will be pjeased 10. learn that there is reliable evidence to hand that the natural enemy is aiding in the destruction of the pest, there beingseveral instances since last meeting of stoats and weaaels having boon seen in the aot of killing,- or found in the burrows with young rabbits dead, which thoy had kiljed. , WhenatMrPerstons at the Upper Pkin he informed me that ho had recently killed ten' does .near his house which had been earmarked, and he requested me to direct your attention to this matter and handed me three of the. ears for your inspeotiou. I have also heard of other instances of the samo thing having been done. It is, 1 think, ovidont that some malicious porsons ai'e doing this, and it is very suggestive on the case above mentioned that all the earmarked rabbits were does. It has been stated thatrabbiters who are not paid for young rabbits are in tho habit of earmarking them and letting thera go, bub in tho case mentioned by Mr Perston the rabbits wero old ones, and the marks apparently but recently put in. I think it would be desirable that in order to put a stop if possiblo to this practice that a substantial reward be offered for the conviction of any persons found guilty of letting rabbits loose. Porsons offending in this way can not be aware that under section 9 of the Rabbit Nuisance Act, 1890, they are liable to a fine of £SO, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve months. I uudcrslaud (hat a petition is about to be presented to the Board praying that in cases where tho Inspector thinks it necessary to summon an owner for neglect in destroy ing the peat, such owner shall have an opportunity oi being heard before the Board, and stating his case before tho summons is issu.eijv Lwouhl ask the Board before granting any such concession to give lliis question most serious consideration, as to my. mind such a practico, if allowed, would act most detrimentally towards those settlers'" wh,o are keeping tho pest under. Under the present circumstances there is often a considerable time elaps?s before t\ gnse can be heard, and in the meanwhile steps' are not taken to destroy the rabbits which breed and spread on to adjoining land, §tyu|i # Board

griiiit the'request "of the petilid oii tbe delay may be much '■longer, -For instance, the Board meets to-day, uritl the Inspector may in a day or two examine, a ; property, and find .it necessary lo lay. an information.' Is he then to wait till the next monthly meeting Mors he can take notion, or is lio to give members of the Board tho troublo of attending ut number of special meetings to hear owners plead that they are hardly dealt by,.and have no rabbits? Should each person be' heard at the monthly meetings, the delay in prosecuting, may bo in same instances fivoor six" weeks; and it must bo patent to any one familiar withthrfecundity of the rabbit, in the spring and summer months that such a delay would be most disastrous, I would, however, suggest to the Board tho desirability, incases where owner's have been once convicted, that before a second information is laid (as the fiue would probably .be much more.severe) ono or moro disinterested experts bo sent with the Inspector to examino tho property, The Legislature, in its' wisdom, has ■ thought fit timo after time to amend the Rabbit Nuisance' Act, and in every " instance has increased its severity, ftttd I would ask the Board to be vety guarded against opening the door and granting concessions that may very materially prevont the destruction of a pest which is causing,so much loss to the Colony.' Personally I am adverse to the system of summoning owners for neglect,aa the penally imposed would aid in the destruction of tho pest. In my opinion in cases whero owners have been convicted and still persist in not reducing the pest, Clause It of the Act should.be brought to bear, the pest being destroyed by persons appointed by the Board, and the owner charged with tho cost of destruction. This may seem an extreme step to take, but If ear it is the only alternative in some cases, -When owners of property allow rabbit's to become so numerous that they injure neighbouring property, and fines havo no effect, some strong measures are absolutely necessary, for I take it that the first duty of the Board and the Inspector is to see that settlers ■ are not injuriously affected by the spread and increase of rabbits from adjacent lands!

With regard to wire netting becoming a legal fence, I havo to inform you that a petition has been drawn up as directed, and is being freely signed, and I have little doubt but that a majority of settlers will be found in favor of rabbit proof fencing, I would again draw the attention of the Board to the advisability ot requesting tbe Government to take steps te enable settlers, or groups of them, to borrow from theGovernniont the necessary funds to purchase material to erect wire netting fences, such money to bo repiid in a similar manner as money borrowed for roads under the Loans to Local Bodies Act, I feel that the erection of wire netting would be a most important factor, and aid in tbe suppression of the pest, and a great boon to small as well as large landowners, and I believe that many settlers in the bush who are fencing new properties would use netting if it could be procurable on the terms indicated, . I would again urge on settlers the advisability of doing away with the presont contract system of destroying rabbits by payment of a certain sum per head, and substituting for it either tbe employment of good reliable men on wages, or> a contract system to keep a specified area clear of rabbits to tbe satisfaction of the owner, or the Inspector, or to reduce thorn to such a given minimum as may bo agreed upon. In letting contraots of this nature, the landowner to protect himself would pay the contractor say 75 percent of tho money earned, retaining the balance as security for the due performance of the contract, and on the other hand should the contractor reduce tho pest below tho specified minimum he should then receive a fair and reasonable bonus. Under a system of this Hind I apprehend that tho rabbiter would preserve the natural enemy as being a valuable assistant, by .aiding him in the performance of his contract, It would also do away with a systom of rabbit farming which I fear is now being practised to. a largo extent, The employer should make his employee fool that the lower be reduces the pest the more secure will his situation be, and tho greater his reward. I believe I that if the plan I have briefly alluded to was in vogue, in many instances it would be found almost unnecessary to resort to poisoning at all* I am, etc, Thomas Jlaokay, Inspector, The report was adopted, The chairman intimated that Mr Bunny had given notice of appeal in the recent cases of prosecution, but it was resolred to allow tho matter to lapse. Tho notico of motion regarding bonuses to breeders of ferrots was confirmed. The diary of the Inspector was read and the meeting then adjourned.