H.—l4

7

to 501b. oats in winter, and lib. to 401b. oats in summer, and more supervision over the mixing of it; likewise turning a sod or running a plough-furrow, wherever practicable, and laying the grain on the sod or furrow. From Rabbit Inspector S. E. Quaetlet, Palmerston South. (1.) After the general winter poisoning, trapping, shooting, dogging, fumigation, digging-out, and summer poisoning have been used as means to destroy rabbits in different parts of Waihemo, Waikouaiti, and Maniototo Counties. (2.) None. (3.) Very satisfactory work has been done in the Waikouaiti and Maniototo Counties, and in most parts of the Waihemo ; all sheep that I have inspected have been in good condition, and feed has been abundant. (4.) Two. (5.) £45 10s. (6.) Sheep Eeservo Blocks 1 and 7, North Harbour and Blueskin Survey District; quarry and railway reserve, same district, about 500 acres ; two small mining reserves on Shag River, Waihemo, about 50 acres. These reserves are not capable of being dealt with for grazing purposes. (7.), (8), (9.) Nil. (10.) Two. (11.) Two. (12.) Nil. (13.) Messrs. Wright, Stephenson, and Co., Mr. Hans Paull, John W. Mepsted, Thomas Mcc, F. W. Plew, E. L. Stanford. (14.) One. (15.) None, (16.) About 100 recently. General Bemarks.— -The high country for the most part is generally free from rabbits, and, as they are confined to the low lands and not scattered to any great extent, a judicious simultaneous poisoning this winter should reduce the pest in the counties under my charge to a minimum. From Rabbit Inspector Shaw, Clyde. (1.) During the winter months phosphorized grain ; remainder of the year, dogging, trapping, shooting, ferreting with nets, digging, and drowning-out burrows, bisulphide of carbon, and arsenic and carrots. (2.) That the Government should turn out large numbers of stoats and weasels in all rough and inaccessible country. (3.) Very fair progress has been made in this district during the last twelve months. (4.) Six. (5.) £810. (6.) Cromwell Commonage, 8,500 acres; Clyde Commonage, 6,000 acres; Black's Commonage and Tiger Hill Reserves, 1,800 acres; Hunter Valley, 31,500 acres; Run 459, 8,570 acres; Run 93, 44,000 acres; Hawea Hundred, 12,000 acres; possibly Run 433, acreage not stated on map. (7.) 1401b. (8.), (9.), (10.), (11.), (12.) None. (13.) Charles Colclough, Charles G. Mountney, Richard Olds, Charles Mitchell, Sarah Williams, Cromwell Borough Council. (14.) Six. (15.) None. (16.) 200, with good results in some places. General Bemarks. —Last winter's poisoning was very successful throughout this district. I find that summer poisoning is a great mistake; certainly a few rabbits are destroyed, but it spoils the general poisoning, as the rabbits do not take the poison so well as when left alone until the proper poisoning season. Ferret-breeding in this district has been most unsuccessful; two runholders having bred from 120 to 170 ferrets each, ready to turn out; they all died of distemper, so that the runholders have ceased breeding ferrets for the present. From Rabbit Inspector Miller, Queenstown. (1.) Systematic poisoning during the winter months; and patch-poisoning in summer during the month of January, when grass is burnt up ; poison in summer being laid in the evening and during damp weather; trapping, and ferreting, and liberating ferrets. (2.) None at present. (3.) Fair progress made, especially on Crown runs, and back country generally. (4.) Twenty-one. (5.) £663. (6.) Crown runs, 435,300 acres; agricultural, mining, and bush reserves, 23,450 acres: all fit for grazing, excepting about 5,000 acres, mining, and bush reserves. (7.) 2551b. (8.) Nil. (9.) 1451b. (10.) One. (11.) One; J. Nicol, £50. (12.) Nil. (13.) Twenty-seven. (L 4.) Seven. (15.) 742 turned out this summer. At the head of Lake Wakatipu, where ferrets were first turned out, they have done remarkable work in preventing the increase of rabbits in the Rees country. (16.) Nil. From Rabbit Inspector Douglas, Invercargill. (1.) Principally phosphorized grain, digging out burrows, ferreting, and a little trapping. (2.) None ; except that, special provision being made in Amendment Act of 1886 for taking evidence in mitigation of penalty, the service of notices under clause 8 might, I think, be done away with : much valuable time and labour would be thereby saved. (3.) With the exception of a few places on river fiats the district is in a satisfactory state. It must be expected that more rabbits are showing at this season of the year about cultivation-paddocks and gorse fences ; but they are not at all bad. (4.) Two. (5.) £70. (6.) I do not anticipate having any available country to deal with. There are a number of small reserves and bush frontages in lower portion of district, which I attend to with day-labour. (7.) 231b. (8.) Nil. (9.) 401b. (10.) One. (11.) Nil. (12.) One. (13.) Nil. (14.) Four solely for Government, four private on large scale, and several breeding a few each year. (15.) 455 turned out direct; 137 sent to stations to be kept through winter, 62 of which died from disease. (16.) Yes, about 1,200. Ferrets are doing much good, in many places quite stopping increase of rabbits without any summer assistance; but, from some unknown cause, we cannot get ferrets to remain on the Waiau Flats. General Bemarks. —A better check on sale of ferrets is required. It would be easy to prevent carriage by rail without a permit from Inspector or local constable. At present any number of captured ferrets could be sent away without detection. From Rabbit Inspector Waohsmann, Gore. (1.) All means known to experts, viz., poisoning with phosphorized oats during winter, followed up by trapping, hunting with dogs, using working ferrets and nets, and by turning out large numbers of ferrets both by Government and private individuals. (2.) Yes ; that when poisoning com-