RABBIT BOARD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12666, 20 January 1912, Page 3

RABBIT BOARD.

The members of the East Coast Rabbit Board met this morning. Present : Messrs E. M. Hutchinson (m tho chair), J. C. Field, T. Holden and W. G. Sherratt. Tlie secretary of the Department of Agriculture advised that the Board's claim for a refund of the money expended by it in rabbiting Crown and native land had fyeei. approved, and payment Avould be. arranged as soon as possible, and tlie total amount due (£2131 4s lOd) less tliree items under enquiry at the present time. — Received. - ..Replying to- the Board's letter asking the Council to -confirm the- report of the Inspector that rabbits Avere completely exterminated in the Opotiki ' district, Mi A. P. Day, clerk of the Opotiki Count-) Council stated that since his previom letter to the Board on the matter, no rabbits had been seen to the knoAvledgc of the Council. — The position was considered satisfactory and it AA r as decided to pay the men a bonus for their gooc work. i Mr W. Ross Avrote apologising for nol being able to attend to-day's meeting, as he AA-as inspecting the Waiapu district, and he suggested holding the meeting?-' on the first Saturday instead of thr third. — It Avas agreed to hold the next, meeting on the, first Saturday in March A letter was received from Mr. J., Hunter Brown, Wairoa, who wrote or' ■ behalf of settlers at that end of the dis;, trict as they had no representative on the Board. He pointed out ' that .the southern end of the Board's district Avai the "danger zone" and deserved close attention. The men wero diligent and, doing their best but in spite of theii utmost efforts the rabbits Ai-ould best them if care Avas not taken. The present arrangements of camping, etc., Avere not the most suitable for getting the most out of the employees, and staying occasionally at the A'arious sheep stations, especially iioav the invasion Avas assum ing a more threatening aspect. The settlers said it Avould assist the trapper? if they had three Avhares, say one at Mohaka Valley, another about Patene. and the third on the Ruapapa property toAvards Waihi. The farmers would' .gladly provide- the rab biters with base places to Avork from. He thought,, at the outside, £200 per station (whare anc paddock) would do. — It was decided tc provide at hares at the cost of £20 each. In the course of his report for December, Inspector E. J. ' Turner, Wairoa. stated that he had located rabbit), on r. , couple of stations. He had made' a trip round Lake Waikaremoana, within a feA\ miles of Te Whaiti, in company \yith Mr T. F. Walker, of Ruapapa, and on the way he found . traces, lie at once put a rabbiter on the spot and he sue ceeded in catching one, and since that, another one had been started somewhere in tho same vicinity. From this spot •round to lluatahuna he could not find any traces. The road round was not a very enticing one, but at the same time he saw no reason Avhy rabbits Avert unable to get round. The rivers at present Avere low. Rabbits Avere plentiful at Te Whaiti and once they got past Kuatahuna he Avas sure they could get round. Most of * the rabbits caught at Ruapapa had been young ones. He had further located some at Waihi, and he was Avorking the men on the country nearest the Waikaretahike river so as'.tp keep ahead of them. There was only 'an' odd rabbit between Putere and Mohaka, and then there was the Waiau river to contend Avith. He Avas having a notice erected about the Lake House drawing the attention of the public to the-penalty for carrying the raobits from one part to another, as he was informed a Maori had done. This month he would have four men employed .on the infested part, and had every confidence in wiping them out. ' Things at Mohaka Avere very satisfactory and the men were doing i good work. He had got tAvo old rabbits and a batch of young ones. He had not been able to visit the Tarawera end, but a Avire from his head man there showed that matters were A-ery satisfactory. Referring to Mr Brown's letter he said he thought £200 was too much for a whare. He had erected whares for £20.. The rabbits killed in tho various districts during December Avere as folloAvs : Wairoa 12, Mohaka 27, Ngatapa 36.. Ruapapa, 26: total 101. — This' was considered a large number — the heaviest tally for a long time. • . .' . After discussion it was resolved to request the Maori County Council to report periodically as to the state of things in that district. Inspector McGill, Opotiki, reported that the statement that rabbits were numerous in. the Ruatahuna district was untrue. He put in seven days inspecting right through the country, starting from the Galatea side up the Horomunga Gorge to Pukareat, from there along the W na katane river to Ohaua, thence to Matatua, and from there to Ruatahuna It AA-as A*ery rough country, and there | Avas not a trace of rabbits to be found. ■He took tAvo men and about a dozen dogs, and could find nothing. .. There were rabbits about four miles up .the Horomunga Gorge, but they had been there for four years. That Avas about 30 | miles from Ruatahuna, and there were no rabbits any closer than Te Whaiti, on the other side. In a later report Mr McGill said he had inspected the district and found things very satisfactory. There wero very few rabbits to be seen anywhere and the nien Mere doing good work in trying to get the pest wiped out. The Whakatane men only. got three last week, including young ones, and the Te j Teko men much the same. The Galatea.) and Waihao men were getting, a good few, but they Avere nearly all % young ones. He was going to Btart poisoning in the back country at the end of Jann--' .ary, and he had wired to Inspector Turner to meet him at Tarawera so;ih&t, the could arrange to start at the same time. — The report was considered Yevy» satisiactory. •,*■.•. Rabbits killed in the Opotiki district during December were as follows':-: 1 -. Galatea 290, Te Teko 24, Whakatane 13, lluatoke 87: total 414. ./-•.' lt was agreed that the members of the Board should visit Wairoa in March to meet the settlers. v