KIWITEA RABBIT BOARD

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 2313, 4 December 1925, Page 3

KIWITEA RABBIT BOARD

[From Our Own Correspondent.] The monthly meeting of the Kiwitea Rabbit Board was held at Kimbolton on Wednesday last. There were present:—Trustees -ti.. P. Francis (Chairman), A. Brown, T. D. Wood, G. Kreger, and W. Hair. A letter is to be forwarded to Trustee Mackley expressing the Board’s sympathy in his illness and wishing him a speedy recovery. The following correspondence was read and dealt with, viz.:—

From Mr H. N. McGuinness, Hinau, offering suggestions as to uie methpd of overcoming the difficulty in securing suitable labour for the destruction of rabbits in between poisoning operations. From Messrs J. J. Williamson and Sons, Waituna West, requesting the Board to instruct its Inspector to give the writers a practical demonstration in the methods of mixing and laying poison.—Chief Inspector to interview

the writers. From the Department of Agriculture advising payment of subsidy on rates collected to £2O/10/25 amounting to £325/4/2. The Chief Inspector's report foi the month of November, 1925 was aa follows: I hereby beg to submit the following summary of the work carried out by your inspectors during the past month;—My assistant at Ruahino reports that in his area there are stif, a few settlers who have not u. sufficient action to keep the past down to the minimum, but in moat cases the settlers appear to be alive, to the danger of the rabbit pest and arc doing their best to combat them My assistant at Rewa reports that in his area shearing has hindered the work of rabbit destruction during the month except on those properties where permanent rabbiters are employed. He also states that where feed conditions wore favourable, satisfactory results have been obtained by strychnine poisoning and that good work has also been done by those settlers who have gone in for fumigating. In my own area most of the settlors have continued digging out, | shooting and dogging and fumigat-| ing. This latter method 1 may state I is now being adopted by a consider- ' able number, the settlers themselves j recognising the benefits of this moth- | od at tills season of the year. A iV.v settlers have also tried poison, but it was only where feed conditions were suitable that satisfactory results wore, obtained. During the month I visited the; North-eastern portion of the Foard’s, area, and I am pleased to bo able to, report that, wi... the exception of, two or three individual properties there is a considerable diminution ol the pest as compared with this sea i son last year. In this area 1 found, several of the settlors have been doing very good work, by employing a rabbiter to go over their properties with dogs, gun and spade, lie would then move on to the adjoining property and so far ho has taken a con-, siderablo area in a face, doing good work. The only drawback to this method is that there is a limit to the area that one man can bo expected to attend to and in my opin-, ion there is ample work of this nature for two or three men in the! different areas. Another favourable sign that I have noticed during the past month is the fact that several of the larger settlers have expressed a desire to accompany me on my next inspection of their respective properties, and | thus let me point out to them at first hand how and where their former, work has been defective. I' In conclusion 1 must say that taking the Board’s district as a whole, p there has been an increase in the ] number of the pest to bo seen during ] the past month. This is to bo cxpcc- : ted at this time of the year as the , pest have been breeding freely fori the past three or four months, but as!‘ the main breeding season in this dis trict, is now practically over there i should not be any further great in crease this season. j) The report of the Chief Inspector j was read and adopted. Accounts amounting to £159/14/10 ( were passed for payment. ■ ,