1048
THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE.
the method of smoking vermin in burrows could
equally apply to rabbits, weasels, foumarts, stoats,
and rats, but, that in rocky places, smoking was
impossible, owing to the numberless chinks of the
rocks not being closeable: thus both vermin and
smoke escaped. The method of smoking or stifling
by brimstone was thus most effectual in sandy earth.

The result of my investigation comes to this in
relation to clearing a country of rabbits :—

1. That when they are valuable or marketable, and
   not numerous, the common steel rat-trap forms a
   very good mode of catching the animal. This can
   be used in either sandy, clayey, or rocky ground.

2. The wire snare is equally good, but only avail-
   able in level grassy land, where the tracks of the
   rabbits can be seen, and so the snare properly set.

3. That when the rabbit is not valuable, and
   consequently looked upon as vermin, the mode
   smothering by brimstone vapour is by far the most
   rapid and certain. In New Zealand, on runs infested
   by the rabbit, this (in as far as the experience of
   these Northumbrian warrens shows) should be the
   system adopted.

Of course there may be a great deal of difference
of opinion as to how the work should be set about
—viz., whether it should be governmental, county,
parish, or private. These differences may be modi-
fied by the nature of the country to be operated on.

Could wire rabbit-proof fencing be erected round
lands or properties, then the private owners or
tenants might be left to themselves to combat with
the evil; but, when this cannot be, it appears evident
to me that the nuisance, when it amounts to a public
evil, should be grappled with by public bodies, be
they colonial, county, or district administrations.
These bodies should have trained men employed to
systematically proceed in a district, destroying the
rabbits in the worst-affected places first, and latterly
giving their attention to such parts where they have
not made headway.

From what I have seen in these Northumbrian
warrens, which stretch from North Sunderland to
Hoppeston, about ten miles in length, and sometimes
a mile in breadth, I do not think that rabbits, once
in a broken, rocky country, can be entirely eradicated.
(Here follows diagram D.)

Registrar of Dogs appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 19th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

PHILIP UREN,
of Lawrence, to be a Registrar of Dogs, under "The
Otago Dog Nuisance Ordinance, 1862," within the
County of Tuapeka; and also to appoint the Tuapeka
County Council Office, at Lawrence, to be the place
where the fees for registration shall be received.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Registration and Returning Officer appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 19th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

JOSEPH GILES, Esq.,
to be Registration and Returning Officer for the
election of Members of the House of Representatives
for the Electoral Districts of Hokitika and Totara,
vice M. F. South, Esq., resigned. Appointments to
date from 1st July instant.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Trustee of Kaikoura Cemetery appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

Captain GEORGE RUCK KEENE, R.N.,
to be a Trustee of the Kaikoura Cemetery, vice
Charles Ruck Keene, Esq., absent from the colony.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Trustee for Upper Wairau Cemetery appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

GEORGE HOOME BINNING MUNRO, Esq.,
to be a Trustee of the Upper Wairau Cemetery, vice
Robert Dick McIsaac, Esq., resigned.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Trustees of Geraldine Cemetery appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

The Reverend JAMES PRESTON and
The Reverend GEORGE BARCLAY
to be Members of the Geraldine Cemetery Board, vice
William Upton Stack and Allan Macdonald, resigned.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Members of Foxton Local Board appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

JOHN WATSON LIDDELL,
ALEXANDER GRAY,
ANDREW JAMES WHITE,
THOMAS UPPADINE COOK, and
FRANCIS LONDON
to be Members of the Foxton Local Board. These
appointments to date as from the 27th September,
1877.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Inspector of Weights and Measures appointed.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

CHARLES ALLISON, Jun.,
to be Inspector of Weights and Measures for the
District of the City of Christchurch.

G. S. WHITMORE.

Auditor appointed, Karangahape Highway Board.

Colonial Secretary's Office,
Wellington, 24th July, 1878.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint

THOMAS H. WHITE
to be an Auditor to audit the accounts of the Kara-
ngahape Highway Board.

G. S. WHITMORE.