34 JACK RABBITS OF THE UNITED STATES. 



with saud paint. He also reports that a substitute for fencing is now 

 being tried at the substation at Xampa, Idaho. Rabbits are very trou- 

 blesome at this place, and in past years have destroyed almost the 

 entire crop of alfiilfa. Last spring, instead of building an expensive 

 rabbit-proof fence, a band of alfalfa 30 feet in width was sowed around 

 the field, which was inclosed simply with three strings of barbed wire, 

 the idea being that jack rabbits, which usually feed around the edges 

 of the field, will obtain sufficient food from the outside strij) and not 

 molest that within the fence. He says "we can grow rabbit feed iu 

 the form of alfalfa cheaper than anything else." 



In Australia fences have proved the best means of protection, and 

 many miles of rabbit fences have been built by the government. One 

 fence, running from Narroraine, on the Macquarie River, to Bourke, on 

 the Darling River, and thence to Barriugun, is 291 miles iu length and 

 cost on an average £82 per mile. It has recently been extended to 

 Corowa, making the total length 703 miles. Another fence has been 

 built from the Murray River northward along the western boundary 

 of New South Wales for a distance of nearly 34(1 miles, at an average 

 cost of a little over £75 \)er mile. These fences were built of 17-gauge 

 wire netting 42 indies in widtli and having 1\ or Ih inch meshes. The 

 fences are looked after by 'boundary riders,' who live in huts about 

 30 miles apart. Altogether the government has erected 1,040 miles of 

 fencing in New Soiitli Wales, while the amount built by individuals 

 has been estimated at about 15,000 miles.' 



In (Queensland about 075 miles of fences have been bnilt by the 

 government- and in New Zealand £12.530 have been exi)ended for the 

 South Canterbury fence. 



PROTECTION OF SINGLE TREES. 



Where the expense of a fence is too great, young trees may be pro- 

 tected by wrapping the stems with strips of burlap, gnnny sacking, or 

 coarse cloth an inch or two wide. These strii>s should be securely tied 

 at the top and bottom. Small cylinders of wire netting, heavy paste- 

 board, or other material aie sometimes used, and a devi<e known as 

 the 'tule-tree protector,' made of the dried rushes or tides, which grow 

 so abundantly in the San .b)a(iuin River swamps in California, has been 

 l»atented for this express pnri)ose. Recently cylinders made of thin 

 strij)S of yucca wood ( Yucca arhorcscots), with the edges fastened 

 together by wire, have been i>laced on the market. Tliey come in sev- 

 eral sizes and are rea<lily i)ut in position. While tliey shield the stems 

 from the snn their value in protecting the trees from jack rabbits is 

 open to question. 



SME.vns. 



Some orchardists advocate ])ainting the trunks of the trees with 

 mixtures distasteful to rabbits. Whitewashing is said to prove edect- 



Coghlan, Wealtli .m.l rronr.ss ol Niw South \Vale8,189«, \o]. I.i..X.(i. 

 ■ Year Book of Australia, 18'J4, p. 145. 



