38 president's address 



about eighty miles further west, there are a number of rabbits in 

 places^ 



In isiHi, the pastoralista of New South Wales oolleoted a sum 

 of money Eor the purpose of bringing out a specialist from the 



Pasteur Institute oi' Tans, to experiment On the practicability of 



inoculating the rabbits with some virulent organism that would 

 Bpread and destroy them. Dr. Danysz came out, and, under the 

 supervision o( the Board i^\' Health, carried out his investigations 



at Broughtofl Island; nothing practical, however, eventuated. 



Though when years oi' drought come round, the rabbit, plague 

 decreases; yet, as Boon as ^ood seasons take their place, the rabbits. 



if negleoted, are as abundant as ever, in spite of the enormous sums 



expended in trapping, hunting and poisoning, in experiments ear- 

 ned out to infect them with contagious diseases, and in the miles 

 o( wire-netting encircling the pastoralista' holdings. 



The only thing that will control the rabbit, is closer settlement. 



subdivision o\' paddocks, and wire-netting. Of course, some new 



factor ma) spring up, and the balance of nature be restored. There 



has invn a marked difference in the native flora since the introduc- 

 tion o\' rabbits, for they have not only eaten out the grass by the 



roots in many places, but all kinds o( herbage, plants, shrubs, and 



Beedlings have been eaten down or barked, even to the smaller 



scrub minis, until the land has become "rabbit-sick"; and even with 

 good Seasons, if will be years before many of these plants will 



reappear. 



In several of the methods used in fighting the rabbits, the native 

 animals and birds have Buffered as severely as the plants. The 

 Universal distribution of phosphorus ami pollard by means of the 



poison cart, claimed to be one o[' the most effective methods of 



destroying rabbits, has killed off an enormous number of the most 



useful insectivorous birds, so that the magpie, laughing jackass. 



stone plover, and other birds have almost disappeared where the 

 poison-Cart is regularly employed. In some of the western land. 

 where poisoned water is used, often in a very careless manner, all 

 conspicuous living things die out with the rabbit. 



