430 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



weak thing, and I would have nothing to do with it. I pre- 

 ferred to reduce the pest upon my neighbours' runs as the best 

 method of protection for my own land. 



Time ran on ; the rabbits were disappearing fast, the 

 lands were becoming clear ; and now a rather great factor of 

 suppression appeared — I suppose I may say the greatest of all 

 — viz., disease — bladder-worm or tape-worm of the dog, con- 

 cerning which the facts are as follows : Early in the year 

 1886 I had noticed that my rabbiter's pack of dogs were look- 

 ing miserably-poor, half-starved, mangy skeletons. I spoke 

 to the man, and told him that I could not allow him to keep 

 his dogs in that condition. (I had now only one pack of dogs 

 employed : formerly, in 1882, I had four. I think I sent 

 home about one-quarter of a million skins during the pest.) 

 ^py I had previously noticed that a neighbour's pack of dogs were 



in much better condition, and that neighbour's rabbiter had 

 told me that he gave his dogs areca-nut to relieve them of 

 worms. I advised my rabbiter to give his dogs the same 

 medicine. And, although Professor Thomas, in his lace report, 

 tells me that I did wrong in giving the dogs this medicine, yet 

 must I, from practical experience, say that to it, and the 

 consequent dissemination of pieces of the tape-worm all over 

 the run during the last two years, can I alone attribute the 

 thorough infection of my land with bladder- worm or rabbit- 

 fluke. The diseases of liver-ret, scab, and lice also appeared. 

 The few rabbits that I have remaining are now nearly all 

 diseased. I may perhaps have been wrong in administering 

 monthly doses of the medicine — two-monthly doses would 

 have been better ; but that the mistake was not fatal is 

 proved from the fact that the run now is thoroughly infected 

 with the disease. I therefore still advise runholders in the 

 South Island to each use a pack of dogs, feed them upon raw 

 rabbit during the week and boiled rabbit upon Sundays, and 

 give them two- or three-monthly doses of areca-nut. For I 

 must respectfully ask scientific men, like Sir James Hector 

 and Professor Thomas, to concede a little to practical ex- 

 perience in this special matter, seemg how great the evil really 

 is to be contended with. (A reference to Professor Thomas's 

 report will show that that gentleman lays great stress upon 

 the efficacy of the winter poisoning in my district. All I can 

 say is that the winter poisoning did us very little good. Un- 

 der it the rabbit-pest was as bad as ever.) 



About eight or nine months since my rabbiter informed me 

 that he had applied to the New South Wales Government for 

 the reward offered for a proper method of suppressing the 

 pest in Australia. His suggestion was, infection with 

 venereal. I did not believe in this, and considered in my 

 ■own mind that the disease I had upon the run would be a 



