The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1910. FIGHTING THE RABBIT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2709, 13 January 1910, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1910. FIGHTING THE RABBIT.

It is so seldom that we feel called upon to heap praise upon Mr. W. D. Lysnar that when occasion calls for it the ranity of the event enables its execution with abundant zest. There is no need to limit in any degree the splendid tribute that should be paid to Mr. Lvsnar for the work he has accomplished in regard to the rabbit menace: He has tackled this subject with customary pertinacity; and if the übiquitous and wasteful bunny is kept clear of this district the pastoralists will have chiefly to thank Mr. Lysnar. If, on the other hand, the rabbit finds his way through the harriers that are to be erected, the gentleman in question can rightly console himself with the knowledge that he, at any mit'-q foresaw the danger and took all possible, steps to avert it. The rabbit menace is a serious factor m ’ '’c welfare of Poverty Bay. Once ibis rap il-ly-breeding rodent finds its way in numbers into our flats, the productiveness of the country will be lowered to a remarkable degree; indeed, -it is impossible to accurately indic-i.'o the harm the rabbit would do. Jn some parts of Australia this little animal has literally driven the farmer off his land, and there are localities in Ne.v Zealand where pastoralists have to spend thousands of pounds a year in an endeavor to keep the pest down to a limit that will permit sheep to exist in the same country.- The soil and climate of this district are so favorable, that the rabbit, once established, would thrive and increase at an alarming degree, and :t would probably be found impossible to eradicate this great enemy of the pastoralist. There are many who realise as fully as does Mr. Lysnar the gravity of the position, but whilst the majority

are satisfied to twiddle their thumbs and leave the rest to the Government, Mr. Lysnar has been personally investigatiiig the matter, at much cost oi time; and money to himself. Very early he found out what many of us are/ not surprised to learn, namely, that the cheery reports of the Government Departments cannot be implicitly relied upon. Their .inspectors do fairly ; good work, but their recommendations are usually disregarded at headquarters, unless they are hacked up by some local deputation. With the support of local farmers, whom lie convened at various meetings, Mr. Lysnar was able to induce the Government to give the position much more careful consideration than it ha<} done before, with the result that additional inspection was provided. The next stage has been the establishment of a Rabbit Board; and this, which has involved a great amount of work upon the promoters, is now almost an accomplished fact. This Board will have power to make a levy on sheep-owners to pay for a rabbit fence, and to take other steps to ocjpe with the threatened rabbit invasion. One might have thought that Mr. Lysnar would at this >,point have left the work to be carried ~-n by the Government officers who had been appointed as the result of his recommendations, or by the Board that is to he formed; but this would scarcely have been ,in accordance with his usual thoroughness. While most of those who can afford it have been taking holidays in the easiest possible form. Mr. Lysnar, with a party he organised, nas been traversing the back country of the district in an endeavor to ascertain the best .place or locality for erecting the proposed rabbit-proof fence. This has involved a matter of ten days’ strenuous riding, and the whole of the party who made the trip are to be warmly complimented upon the enthusiasm with which they carried cut their self-imposed task. The information they gained should prove of the utmost importance to the new Board, which will be able to take up its duties with a full knowledge of the position. It is now abundantly evident that the inspection which was carried out- before Mr. Lysnar made himself and his subject something of a nuisance to the Government —so that to placate him they had to do something—was much too limited to disclose the full facts. The more careful scrutiny that has taken place of late has shown that the rabbits have penetrated much nearer to the Gisborne district than had been believed. This makes the task of keeping the district clear of the /pest so much anore difficult, but it is bv no means impossible. If a fence is promptly erected along the routes recommended. and settlers spare no efforts to destroy any animals that find their way inside its boundaries, our pastures should be reserved in the future as they have in the past for sheep and cattle. It would certainly be a bad day fpr all concerned when a large portion of the products of the soil had to be sacrificed to keep hundreds of thousands of rabbits in prime condition.