THE RABBIT PEST.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17986, 1 February 1924, Page 3

THE RABBIT PEST.

0 SUGGESTIONS FROM A FARMER. ] ' ■ ■ ■ | In a letter recently published in "The' Press, "Mr F. AV. Johnston, a well-known solicitor of Christchurch, put . forward a suggestion that the business people whoso' interest's were identical with those of the farming community should lend a hand to the j farmer in tho organising and administering of efforts to cope with the rabbit pest in a comprehensive manner. Mr Johnston has since received a letter from a well-known Southern sheepfarmer on the subject. The writer said he was not so. sanguine that a farmer could be got to take the matter up voluntarily; h<; had been the "under-dog" so long that he had become suspicious of outside efforts to help him. The .pest would never be successfully got under unless the Government, under legislative power, commandeered and took control of all skins, on the same lines as wool and wheat were commandeered during the war period. The price should bo so fixed that, tho farmer would bo-allow-ed'a maximum return on summer skins, as this would give .an extra incentive to .destroy, the does in the son. The Governmeiit'would t'hus effectively put a stop to what is commonly known as "rabbit farming." Further, the Government should manufacture or import wholesale large quantities of netting, for retailing direct to bodies of farmers, and these bodies should be financed if necessary. Fencing into small areas should be encouraged as much as possible, and-the Government should forthwith obtain: the latest information regarding the asphyxiation of rabbits in burrows, and instruct farmers in the most effective way of carrying out that method of destruction. Kabbit boards, the writer stated, had not been successful in the past because they were mostly controlled by influential graziers, whose chief concern was to keep their own country clear, and who were too busy with their own affairs' to assist in a crusade to help the small farmer. He suggested that the Government should immediately remove the protective duty on cartridges, for at present a reallv first-class article could be placed on the market only at a price- which excluded the use the shot gun as a means of economically getting rid of the rabbits. . In conclusion, the farmer stated that he agreed with Mr Johnston's main contention that no real progress could be made until townsmen, who had acumen and vigour, and were interested in rural properties, took an active interest, politically and practically, in one of the most important factors in the safeguarding of the producing industries.