48 Agricultural Gazelle of N.S.TF. [Jan. 2, 1908. 



Miuiy small kui'ra iuii>^s wcic calcii down, ami t I't't's 7 iiicln's in diaiiiL'ter 

 were t'cllfil l>y the I'ahbits and tlir leaves, hranelies. and trunks devoured 

 liy the liun<_;r\' nideiits. All llial w a.s left nf (ine sneli tree is shown in 

 illustral inn. Vxix. i. 



The (ii'an^e hush jiroveil very |ialatalile, and thi' rahliits would eat all 

 the i)ai'k t'l'om the trunk, and elimh u|i tlir l)U>lic-~ and >trij> the limbs up 

 to fully Id feet fi'oin t he Ll'i'ound . The el'fra of all this wholesale ringing 

 will he seidously felt duidng the next didULiht, the edil)le trees being one 

 of the |irinei|ial featuiH's of lai'ge ti'aets of this country. 



Upon the hei'bage their el'feets were vi'r\- markrd: not a vestige of the 

 more eonunon lierl)s and grassi's, which the rabl)its relished, eouhl be 

 found. In the pliice of these, a white evii'last ing (II < 1 1 pfi'i'ii m species) has 

 taken jiossession of Imndreds of thousands of acres. The reason that this 

 has taken such a hold is on account of the rabbits not eating it. altlnuigh 

 ]ii'act it'ally starving. 'i'his fact was the salvation of the kangaroos and 

 man\- thousands of sheep. The kangaroos and sheep, also cattle, may not 

 liave relished it, but it was Hobsiui's choice, and they ajijicar to do fairly 

 well upon it whilst young, and when it was more mature and the seed- 

 heads formed sheep a))peared to thrive upon it. 



The rainfall over this tract for the past two year> had considerably 

 exceeded the average. 



Further eastward another plaid, Centaurea sofsfillnH^ (f'ocksjiur), has 

 taken possession of large areas. The seeds were inti'odueed in fodder for 

 starving stock throughout the ] !)02 drought. This plant has adapted 

 itself adniiral)ly to the conditions of the {)ast few years. It has come to 

 stav, as I have noticed large patches existing through severt' droughts in 

 horse-pa(l(U)cks amiind homesteads. Fortunately, shee[) thrive upon it, 

 and it is spoken of highly by pastoralists of large e.\j>erience. Rabbits 

 do not eat it, which accounts foi' the hold which it has obtained. In proof 

 of this statement, 1 nught mention that I saw an embaid\ment of a tank 

 covered with it to the height of IS inches, whilst the surrounding country 

 was perfectiv l)are, excepting for the wdiite everlast ini;'. d'he embaid'iment 

 was enclosed bv a drop-fence, which was sheeji-proof, Init not proof against 

 rabbits, of wliich there wert' thousands surrounding the tank. 



The above are striking instances of the effects of rabbits u]ion the tiora, 

 and I have no doubt but that i)astoralists ami others have notict'd other 

 cases a])plicabk' to other ]dants. It will be seen that the effects ot the 

 rabbits are not transitory, but may be ]iermanent, ami tlu' most deplor- 

 able feature is probalily the ringing of the edible trees. (Jther plants seed 

 so profusely, and the vitality of such seeds is so great, that they will 

 probablv reinstate themselves aftei- many years. Not so with our edible 

 trees. I'ndei' our jiresent s\stem of stockin<_r, many of these have gone 

 for ever. It behoves those inteiX'sted to weigh this aspect of the case and 

 to use everv endeavour to cope with the rabbit, so that this imjioi-lant 

 section of the State will not sulTer further deterioration. 



