ENGLAND'S RABBITS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 129, 3 June 1939, Page 12

ENGLAND'S RABBITS.

ENORMOUS DAMAGE.

FLOURISH IN CRISIS.

LONDONER'S ''CURE" CLAIM.

(Spccial—By Air Mail.)

LONDON* May 13.

The international crisis lias brought longer life to thousands of England's wild rabbits, which do £70,000,000 worth of damage every year. A company formed in London to conduct mechanised warfare on the pests announced this week that it was going into voluntary liquidation, owing to a falling off of support since last September. When Rural Service Association (England), Limited, was incorporated four years ago to fight the rabbit menace with modern methods, great landowners supported the schemes. Fifty great e-tates ill England and Scotland were cleared of rabbits by humane methods. Thousands of rabbits died painless deaths 111 their burrows from hydrocyanic acid gas.

"Orders from landowners fell off at the time of the September crisi- and have dwindled ever since."" said Mr. W. L. Webb, governing director of the company. at a meeting of creditors. "That is wliv we are going into voluntary liquidation."

Meanwhile. Mr. A. E. Fair. 0 London civil engineer who ha> a farm in Hertfordshire. offers to pay *:ioOM to charity if it can be proved that the method he has discovered and developed to eradicate the pest of the wild rabbit is ineffective. He makes this offer in a booklet he, has published about the rabbit pest to agriculture entitled "From | Poverty to Prosperity in Agriculture."'

He says: ''I have discovered a complete cure for this pest. . . . My experiments have Wen watched bv experts who can testify to their <"inplete success."' It would appear that Mr. Fan's cure is on the destruction. of the rabbits' warrens.