THE RABBIT QUESTION.

Otago Witness, Issue 1945, 4 June 1891, Page 20

THE RABBIT QUESTION.

Mr J. M'Queen, of Knapdale, prepared,the following paper on the rabbit question to read at the last; meeting of the Gore Farmers' Olab, bat time did not permit of this being done:— Seeing that a notice haa been given that poisoning will begin on June 1 on one station, and hearing a report of other* intending to follow suit, I thought that in my own interest and alto in that of the other ■ettler* in the large district served by the Oroydon Babbit Preserving Works, I ought to enter my protest against the action of the two or three landowners who would thus shut down the factory and turn a whole lot of people out of work In the beginning of winter. Surely a month or six week* after this would be early enough to poison! I admit there are difficulties in the way, especially In rough pastoral country where it takes a long time to get over the ground with the few hands usually kept for the purpose. But the system generally carried out on runs is in my opinion a grand mistake, and it penny wise and pound foolish. It is as follows : —A. certain number of men are employed to trap, &a., during the year, the skins to be delivered at the station at a fixed price summer and winter. There is a heavy loss incurred during summer, whioh is expected to be balanced by the extra 7alue of winter skin*.- Now, if in one season's operations the book* show a large de&olt In this transaction, there is a strong temptation to reduce the number of men employed in summer and increase them in winter, and thus produce a surplus instead. But. however pleasant surpluses may be in general, this one is a delusion. No ; rabbit-farming will not pay, or rather «heep-farming pays better. As we must nave both sheep and rabbits, and there must be a loss on one of them, let it be on the rabbits. The effeot on the sheep in the plan of produolng a surplus In rabbit farming is ; that through the rabbits increasing at such ait enormous rate during summer, competing with sheep for the grass, they are not allowed to store any surplus fat to enable them to stand the cold of winter, and with this, added to the fact that there is no surplus grate left from the autumn growth, it takes till near shearing time next season before the ghosts of the survivors $re strong enough to be mustered into a yard. Now

this, or something approaching to it, is the effect of the system which I wish to condemn. Now it is obvious that tho opposite conrae is the right one to take ; spend whatever is required to conserve the grass for the sheep, and it will be found that the clip and surplus stock will be so increased both in quantity and quality that a true and not a b>gus surplus will be produced. And now to return to the question of closing of the factory by commencing poisoning so early in winter. Had the rabbits been kept down as they ought to have been in the interests of the sheep, and proper use had been made of the factory, there would have been no need of poisoning in the district for six weeks yet, if then. So as to get all the good we can ont of the faocory, large property owners should employ spring-carts or waggonettes, or, in rough country, pack horses, to collect the rabbits and forward them to the railway* or factory, taking both their own rabbiters' and settlers' rabbits, making a small charge or otherwise as they thiok fit, but give all the facilities you can for getting the work done. This is the plan adopted on Knapdale, and It is found to aot well. I must apologise for all these digressions. What I want to get at is this : He; cis a most important industry In danger of being strangled. All these people with the oapital they have invested bave a right to get fair play. An industry capable of employing profitably at least 5000 or 6000 people in Otago and Southland alone is worth looking after. These thousands of people, planting themselves in groups here and there all through this rabbit-in-fested eonntry, cay in effect -with their soldering bolt in hand and tbeir steam recorts all hot— " Come, pass your rabbit difficulty along this way and we will fix It up." Surely we ought to give them in exchange, at least, fair play. I appeal to the public in general, and to this olub in particular, to see that they and we who are so much interested in the success of their work do get fair play.