BRER RABBIT.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2752, 5 March 1910, Page 2

BRER RABBIT.

AS A COMMERCIAL ASSET

(By Jean, in the “Sydney Morning Herald.”) When Brer Rabbit, with his associates and contemporaries, the starling, tho sparrow, the fox, and the blackberry first came as assisted immigrants to this land, they were welcomed warmly, for their hosts did not foresee to what a degree thoy would outstay, or rather outspread, their welcome. They were prized in the home, of their birth, and received with respect due. by those in tho new land who had been bred with veneration of the old as ah inherited instinct. However, before many years had passed ,Brer Rabbit, no less than his comrades, had displayed Ins shortcomings, and the. land yearned with the desire to rid itself of its pest. Straightway the versatile little animal began his endeavors to prove that, like mapy others, he had his uses, though, perhaps, hardly palpable at first. Now it will not bo claimed that the rabbit has yet -won his way to that plane of respect and distinction with the aristocracy of the land winch ho once possessed, but with the democracy, at all events, he is on terms of abundant familiarity, and lias been for eimo time regarded as somewhat of a friend. The squatter still finds the rabbft a curse,—more so .than over. He spends hundreds of pounds in netting his run, and moveover, in order to have that netting and numerous other jobs performed, lie lias to spend pounds more in proportion, for his casual laborer lias found that he can earn at rabbit-trap-ping more than the snuatter cares to pay. Even the English Jackaroo careful though ho may be of his association and his lines of class distinction, has, in more instances than one, been impressed by the commercial aspect of the. business. Why should he stay as a Jackeroo at tho modest salary of ton or fifteen shillings weekly, while here he is offered ail income of a few pounds, with the untrammelled joys of a tent life and an open-air existence, and the shackles of civilisation pro tempore oast aside? It was interesting to the. writer on one occasion to listen to the remarks of an old man who dwelt on the uplands near tho Abercrombie Caves, when he maintained that no young man in the future need deny himself, for want of funds, the pleasure and the privilege of a University degree. With the money to be earned at rabbit-trap-ping he could win the coveted prize, hilling in his leisure hours of daylight with preparatory studies for law, literature, science or oven medicine.

The rabbit trapper earns good money. Those who have been with him - in tho snow or the piercing wind of a winter night at 10 or 12 o'clock, or again in the keen, frosty air of 4 a.m., round traps and burrows, listening for the squeal of the rabbit, maintain that he earns his money hard. But probably there are plenty of other industries, or even professions, may wo say, equally bard and by no means so remunerative. It is said that men sometimes earn 22s per day, and even up to £8 weekly. In the district around Crookwell, some few weeks ago, the freezing works, which are now a distinctive feature of all the country towns where rabbit trap_ ping is a common pursuit, were paying from £3OO to £4OO weekly as earnings to their trappers. Since then,, feeling tho presseure of the English and Continental fur market, and tho foreign glove market, prices paid for rabbits have increased. In certain districts whole families engage -in the work, even the women and children. When such is the. case it is usually the family of the casual laborer or the unemployed. But the children of the small farmer often supplement their earnings in this way and many a school boy in town or country has enjoyed a. delightful holiday on the proceeds of his rabbit trapping. In very rare instances a rabbit trapper makes, money and keeps it, by thrift thus laying the foundation of future prosperity._ Usually the earnings are consumed quickly. Tho public-house v waits eagerly for the cheque, and often gets it. But in some cases (for £2 to £3 is a weekly wage fairly easily earned) the rabbit has solv_ ed the problem of poverty for starving families, who would otherwise have been cast on th e benevolence of their nearest town.

It is an interesting sight to watch trie rabbit© arrive at a freezing works. Some are brought in crates, either large or small, some of poles, by boys, women, and men, who usually drive up in sulkies, carts, or waggons. The rabbits pass first into tho hands of the Government grader, who rejects a certain number as too small, or too poor. For the largest, some little tune ago. 7d per pair was paid ; lor the smaller, 3d and 4d ; for rejects, 2d. Trie firsttwo grades were packed in boxes, each containing two dozen of the former, each rabbit being guaranteed to weigh 2Ub ; of the latter (which are said to )K)ssesis the more, tender meat) each 21b. Thus packed and frozen hard, in the freozin- room, tbp- are prepared for transhipment to England. The rejects are skinned with great, rapidity. ’Where trapping is carried on at some distance from a railway station, as formerly at Oanowindra. the rabbits are treated on the snot, and the skins dried. The car_ cases are boiled down and converted into a- delicious extract, which a© the rabbit is a strict vegetarian, is wholesome and palatable, and commands a good price both on this and the other side of the world. 'Hie bones of the rabbit are utilised for poultry feed, the carcases of the condemned rejects in the making of dog biscuits. An attempt was made some time ago to bleach the rabbit and transform him into tinned chicken. That enterprise is now dead, for the marrow in the bones betrayed him. Could a species- of rabbits with hollow bones have been discovered, the undertaking might have come to a successful issue.

The marketing of the' skins belongs to another division of industry. They arc forwarded to Sydney, and the bulk of them transhipped to Europe, to return, perhaps, under a guise.and in a fashion quite unrecognisable. For it is a well-known fact that each season sees

more new and wonderful imitations of costly furs' and although the winter season in England *is over, news has lately come of a double price for rabbit skins. If you walk around one -of our crowded city areas you may happen to come upon a factory for the making of fur hats. That is where the story of the rabbit begins again. The skins are stacked on arrival. They have been dried in the country by trappers, who peg them out on wires. Here a machine removes the outer hair and leaves the soft fur. ’When the machine has not thoroughly completed the work girls and men are employed to finish it. The work is somewhat disagreeable, for the fluff covers the clothes of the worker, but it is maintained to be non-injurious. Another machine removes the fur from the skin with knives, and it comes off like the fleece of a. sheep. It is this fur which is used in tho making of felt hats. The skin is torn into fine threads, and goes through various processes to make it useable in the manufacture of the best glue and gelatine. In tho midst of a whirr of machinery, of a noise of pullies, belts and shafting, which look ominously dangerous, in the press and heat of a steamy engine-room, with a floor that is wet and sloopy, there is pointed out to you a machine which is the main one for the manufacture of felt hats. The fur is drawn on to a perforated wire cone by a suction fan. Here it is moistened and compressed by steam, passed through the revolving cone, then through various processes till the bat is complete.