Phillu's. — On liabbil-diseasc. 315 



have nothing to do witli it, preferring to tnrn out the natural 

 enemy, and so assist in clearing my neighhours' lands, against 

 wliicli I had thought of erecting the fencing. Of course, I can 

 say nothing if ai;y settlor chooses to adopt both the fencing 

 and the turning -out of a sufilicient number of the natural 

 enemy and the spread of disease. All I should say then 

 was that he did not rel}- ujion his fencing as the remedy. I 

 would also say that, were I living in a badly-infested rabbit 

 district, with all the neighbours pulling against each other, in 

 place of acting together and turning out the natural enemy 

 and spreading these diseases, then in self-defence I might be 

 compelled to erect rabbit-netting to save myself from ruin ; 

 l)ut that would be no remedy against the rabbit-pest, which 

 would flourish just as badly as ever on the other side of the 

 fence. In South Wairarapa we never thought of this fencing 

 at all, but took the wide measure of relieving the whole dis- 

 tiict at once by turning out ferrets, stoats, and weasels. 



Strange to saj', fencing was the only remedy recommeuded 

 by the late Eoyal Commission in Australia. The Commission 

 thought t'nat bladder-woi'm might be useful, but fencing was 

 chiefly relied upon. I have httle experience of its use or 

 effect in the dry central lands of the Australian Continent. 

 All I know is that Nature never made use of this netting in 

 reducing the rabbit -pest in the dry central desert -lands of 

 Africa. She may have done so ; but there is no record of 

 these fences, or of the size of the mesh used. Practically, the 

 Sydney Commission leaves the work of rabbit-extermination 

 to drought in Central Australia. I should think that the 

 dingo would be the best animal to cope with the rabbit diffi- 

 cult}^ in the uninhabited parts of the Australian Continent. 

 That animal is well adapted to spread the bladder- worm 

 disease, and it most certainly will do so. Professor Thomas 

 thinks that the disease will be found more usefid in New 

 Zealand than in Australia, owing to the fact that the tape- 

 worm-eggs must have moisture, dry winds and hot sunny 

 days, in his opinion, being fatal to it. Here, again, from prac- 

 tical experience, I differ. The disease is worse with us in the 

 dry, hot weather. In dry, hot Queensland there are occasional 

 outbreaks of sheep-fluke — a very similar disease. In frozen 

 C-anada the bladder-worm thrives. There is a vitality of 

 resistance, both ;\gainst heat and cold, in these small forms 

 of life which often surprises the zoologist, and J am rather 

 astonished at Professor Thomas's statement. It is somewhat 

 venturesome upon my part crossing swords with so able a man 

 as Professor Thomas ; but when he grasps the whole course 

 of my argument, when he thinks of the monej- that is being 

 wasted in wrong directions, then he will excuse me for writing 

 so jjlainly as I am doing. Had he lived as long as I have 



