CONCLUSIONS. 79 



unusually abundant; but returns from tMs source will only partially- 

 offset the losses sustained on account of injuries to crops. 



(8) Jack rabbits may be used for coursing, for their skins, or for food. 

 The United States imports annually millions of rabbit skins for felt 

 and other purposes. The skins of jack rabbits could probably be 

 used for many purposes for which the cheaper grades of imported 

 skins are now utilized, and could be collected so cheaply as to leave a 

 margin of profit. 



(9) The consumption of jack rabbits for food amounts to about 

 600,000 per annum, and is gradually increasing. This game can be 

 obtained in considerable quantities on the plains and on the deserts of 

 the Great Basin, and may be profitably shipped to Eastern markets to 

 the mutual benefit of the farmer and the consumer. 



(10) In America the rabbit question never has, and probably never 

 will, assume the proportions it has assumed in Australia. The jack 

 rabbits of the United States are all indigenous species and ordinarily 

 are held in check by natural enemies and by disease. Although local 

 conditions may sometimes favor their temporary increase, yet natural 

 agencies, aided by the persistent and constantly increasing war of 

 extermination, are gradually, but none the less surely, diminishing their 

 numbers. 



