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THE
RABBIT FANOCIER;
A TREATISE UPON THE
Breeding, Rearing, Heeding, avd General Management
OF
RABBITS:
WITH REMARKS UPON THEIR
DISEASES AND REMEDIES,
DRAWN FROM AUTHENTIC SOURCES AND PERSONAL OBSERVATION.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED
FULL DIRECTIONS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF HUTCHES, RABBITRIES, ETC.,
TOGETHER WITH RECIPES FOR COOKING AND DRESS-
ING FOR THE TABLE.
BY ©). N. BEMENT,
AUTHOR or ‘‘THE AMERICAN POULTERER’S COMPANION,”
ee
a ¢
iW YORK :
C. M. SAXTON & CO., AGRICULTURAL BOOK PUBLISHERS,
152 FULTON STREET.
1855.
WA
4 ® a: ee #
22-276 |
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by
C.M.SAXTON,
in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for
the Southern District of New York.
4y traasfer (rons
Pat, Office Lis,
Apri 1014,
“yward O. Jenkins, Printer,
Nos. 26 anp 28 FRANKFORT STREET.
PneUS FRAELONS.
PAGE
PABPVE PIT 2.52.22 6icicecisecceces es Aousss vo Sige acd a 37
SECTION OF A TWO-TIER RABBIT HUTOH............-.-000- 43
PREEEORND BEPIVATION, NO. I... ..<e.0.ccocsercacteccans 48
PEAR MLOOR PLAN. NO. Il.....{.<..-ss0cs% Emery 5a 48
BOUT LOE GABRET, NO: «DL. .eccenicos os Gad. ivédo. bee 50
PEMAM NOs: Vico ooots ectecocce seco ser eteies eee 50
FRONT AND FLOOR SECTIONS, NOS. V. AND VI.......-0e00e 52
REAR SECTION, NO. VII......... ica oe Bee ec: tig <:
TWO-ROWED HUTOH..........000005 WA ik ic ee 55
LS S7Ibk Tne er ee
THE LOP-EFARED RABBIT...<.. 02.0000. er Re 68
Pemba Ors 72 s paienigeds pe Sherrie «puns + «sa CE NReie ae 68
meme ME AEBED.......0.c.-.+i0<-0s0-c+cce- CC ee |,
MUUEIWAN GRAY RABBIT. . <2. ci. scceiwarssaesn casas ea 88
CON Ph NTS:
PAGE
EVORMOTY 0.56100 vs.p0e one abt dedesewesdis eee cus win 6c eal ij
BERGER 5 500.0) «,0,0 50.0 aja\oid n'a, 422, satan, mye-evem se. Aiele bs, 5 so/m sie tall tee 9
Merits and Uses... science: » | o.wis dyeieiee ea 0 0.d.<'4 a gl oca en 12
Nature and Habits... so. ssicis ss coa'r ies 0.0 o\> 0.0 ein een 16
SCN coals eh aahiaia. « aikmace osc ees s cu sisiet enn ie §
Management of the Doe...... ei taluiate woe, nes entee a siete ois oa 20
Management of the Young...... bp views wae 0:00 nine egia an cea ae
Oe ee eee o's a's a\ele.« a-0)s, oe ia = see 23
TIE 5 in cc nin, nininsin a dip wind 6.40 ne <5\.9 dis ene ose Si oe 24
RE ATES sf 5.0. cigjo SAS Sire d se eb agae errr 34
RRM TEMS Oh a Ste oi names nw A's 4 em pire ete 6 eRe oo ade cane Rat: 36
SI RRC a eg sa 's alps ey bale a wigan olathe teil A eee
Selection of Stock..... a femme ie or0%0 pie tote tals ainio ai oles 0 0 «'sisim nip eae 57
Varieties of Rabbits. ............ 0.0.8.0 0,0,0,0 0:0 0» 3s 44s | aan 61
OR SNOB E da rw icin wn BW oh Sw afc din, s cal ree 69
Markings: The Smut and the Chain—Carriage......... an = bees 73
mitlaale Vales. 5 <<.0/ci0issies 09's 0-00 a'p's's 0.9.4.6 csis bes = een 75
Properties required for Prizes....'.’..'..........acse ee eee 76
Feeding and Killing for the Table............... a le 2 sve eek aa
2 ee Svehla lavyhse wisiw ots ee eel +i. see eee 78
Diseases—Their Prevention and Cure.......... 62 505s oo eee 79
American Gray Rabbit... . so .csesesees sis essen sae Eien 89
Pataeayy W aryinge Hare... «2 5.003% pppoe oats 60 6.50.0\0 ape «a eaeee
Rape TAN ec lia dios ws a. wn 954 oe Gam sims ror UU 96
French Ways of Cooking Rabbits... ..2..ces00ccsss000eup ay anne
on
Pie Age Ow ys
In the preparation of this little treatise, it has been the
aim and desire of the author that without entirely exclud-
ing the less necessary points of the subject, it should be
made as practicable as possible, and should contain such
information as is most required by beginners, with but
little previous knowledge of the management of our little
favorite. We have done our best to carry out this inten-
tion, and we think that the novice, after a careful perusal
of the following pages, will find but little difficulty in
commencing and continuing his pleasing task.
When about twelve or thirteen years of age we com-
menced breeding rabbits,—the common tame varieties,
black, blue, white, and party-colored. For their accom-
modation we enclosed a circular piece of ground, on a side-
hill, about twenty-five feet in diameter, by setting boards
on end in the ground, two feet deep, and about five feet
high, in the form of a stockade, or like the enclosure of
the pit, as figured in page 89. We dug a pit in the cen-
tre, covering it with boards, placing the earth on the top
in the form of amound. From this they worked holes in
the sides of the walls and formed their nests for breeding.
We started with a trio, one buck and two does. They
(7)
8 PREFATORY. a
“bred like rabbits,” and we soon had quite a stock, say
from fifteen to twenty, but for some reason they did not
seem to increase much afterward. The cause at the time
we could not comprehend, but now think the bucks or
males caused the mischief by destroying the young, and
quarrelling with one another, so we abandoned that enter-
prise. Breeding in hutches, at that early date, was un-
known in this country.
While residing on Three Hills Farm, some eighteen
years ago, my father, being crippled with rheumatism,
amused himself with breeding rabbits in hutches, and suc-
ceeded admirably; raising quite a large number, many of
which afforded us dainty meals. Castrating the young
bucks and fattening them for the table, many of them
weighed eight pounds after being dressed. ‘The flesh was
white, tender, and well-flavored.
We hope that this little book will serve to diffuse, more
widely, reliable information on the subject of which it
treats, and prove a welcome acquisition and manual of
present interest and permanent utility; and that it will
claim, at least, the favorable consideration of those for
whom it is designed.
C. N. BEMENT.
Staten Island, May, 1855.
bei Bese
.
om
ig A es PS
IN a little treatise like this, it is hardly worth the labor
to inquire into the origin, or to attempt to trace the subju-
gation of the rabbit. Like the domestic fowl, its domesti-
cation is shrouded in mystery. The wild rabbit is un-
doubtedly the origin of our various domestic breeds. It is
generally believed that the rabbit was first introduced into
Spain from Africa, by the Romans, whence it gradually
spread, naturalizing itself into temperate climates, but
does not reach quite so far north as the hare. There ap-
pears every probability that the most remarkable varieties
came from Persia and the adjacent countries.
Tame races, which have the greatest claim to style
themselves aboriginals of England, were in all likelihood
existing in their present state long before the commence-
ment of any historical epoch in Great Britain. It would
appear, therefore, that the rabbit is not an aboriginal of
England, but the date of its introduction is unknown.
Tame rabbits easily resume their natural state of freedom,
and return to their instinctive habits.
In its wild state, it forms long, winding burrows; keeps
its hole by day; feeds morning, evening, and night, on
vegetables and grain.
Rabbits are found in great numbers in England, bur-
rowing in dry, sandy soils, particularly if the situation be
1* (9)
10 THE RABBIT.
hilly or the ground irregular. Enclosures called warrens
are frequently made in England, in favorable spots of this
kind, some of which extend to hundreds of acres. Rab-
bits not being swift-footed animals, are taken by nets,
traps, ferrets, and dogs. The common wild rabbit is of a
gray color, and is the best for the purpose of food; its
skin is valuable, as the pelt is a material for hats; but
another variety has been introduced, the silver-gray, the
skin of which is more valuable, and is dressed as fur; the
color of this is a black ground, thickly interspersed with
single gray hairs. A great number of them are exported
to China.
Size excepted, the rabbit closely resembles the hare in
all its principal characters. It may, however, be at once
distinguished by the comparative shortness of the head
and ears, as well as of the hinder limbs; the absence of a
black tip to the ears; and by the brown color of the upper
surface of the tail. Its habits and general economy are
totally opposite to the hare, and its flesh, instead of being
dark and highly flavored, is white and delicate. The
flesh of the rabbit differs somewhat according to its wild
or domestic state. There is some difference of opinion as
to which is preferable; the wild rabbit has more flavor,
but some prefer the tame as whiter and more delicate.
The tame rabbit in all its varieties, has always been, and
still is, a great favorite in many parts of the European
Continent. ‘In Holland,” says a writer in the American
Agriculturist, “it is bred with reference to color only,
which must be a pure white, with dark ears, feet, legs and
tail; this distribution has a singular effect, but withal, it
is a pretty little creature. The French breed a long,
oy a
oe eee Gey
RABBITS. 11
rangy animal, of great apparent size, but deficient in depth
and breadth, and, of course, wanting 1n constitution; no
attention is paid to color, and its markings is matter of
accident. The white Angola, with its beautiful long fur
and red eyes, is also a great favorite in France.”
Albinos are sometimes found among the common white
rabbits, and it often happens that one or two appear in a
litter, when neither of the parents are so.
There are several varieties of tame rabbits. The large
white and yellow, and white variety, have the whitest and
most delicate flesh, and when cooked in the same way,
sometimes rivals the turkey. There is also a large variety
of the hare color, the flesh of which is highly flavored and
more savory than that of the common rabbit; and it makes
a good dish cooked like the hare, to which, at six or eight
months old, it is nearly equal in size.
As the flesh of the tame rabbit is inclined to be dry, it
is well to feed them partly on green vegetables, which
makes it more juicy. ‘They become larger and fatter in
the tame than in the wild state; but it is not desirable to
have them as fat as they can be made. Some that have
been fed in hutches have been known to exceed twelve
pounds in weight. When very old they are tough like
hares. |
_ Wild rabbits are procurable young and in good condi-
tion only at particular seasons, but tame ones may be
always bred in a state fit for the table. The latter are in
the greatest perfection when four months old; but if well
fed, will not be too old at eighteen months old.
The skins, if carefully preserved, besides being saleable,
are useful in a family for lining garments.
MERITS AND USES.
THE real value of the rabbit to man is greater than
would appear at first sight. Independently of the fur,
which enters largely into the manufacture of hats and
other articles, the skin makes an excellent glue. If the
flesh is not particularly nutritious, it is a light and agree-
able article of food; and none but those who have lived
in the country, and have received the unexpected visit of
friends to dinner, can form an adequate idea of the conve-
nience of having a plump rabbit or two at hand in the
hutch.
But we hold that, besides their material profitableness,
there is a moral value attached to these animals. They
afford an early lesson to the young of the responsibility of
having live animals to feed and tend. Their proprietor-
ship affords an opportunity of exercising the priceless
qualities, in after-life, of thrift, attentiveness, good man-
agement, forbearance, and forethought. Innocent and
unfailing amusement is thus derived from the daily prac-
tice of prudent habits, which are an excellent preparation
for a subsequent charge of greater importance and diffi-
culty.
The dung of these animals is an excellent manure for
clayey soils, and is particularly serviceable in the culture
of vines and fibrous-rooted green-house plants.
a)
MERITS AND USES. 13
The rabbit shares with the fowl and the pig the merit
of being a save-all,—being a transmuter of useless scraps
and offal into useful and valuable fur and flesh. All sorts
of vegetable tops and parings, weeds from the garden,
which are not of too moist a nature—which would other-
wise meet with no better fate than to be swept away to
the rubbish-heap—will, with the addition of sufficient dry
food, serve to maintain a little stud of rabbits. The cast-
out refuse of three or four gardens, in a village, in the
hands of many an ardent young stock-master, would
serve, under a judicious administration, to rear, feed, and
fatten his little flock. And in house-keeping, as well as
in agriculture, triflmg means of profit ought not to be
neglected, when they are capable of being secured with
only trifling exertion and the outlay of a small amount of
capital, and especially when they are, as in this instance,
the natural appendage of every poultry-yard or homestead
which pretends to be of the least importance. The mis-
fortune is, that exaggerated accounts have been given to
the world which led to failures.
On the other hand, it is a false accusation to charge
these animals with consuming any undue and enormous
quantity of fodder. Some authors have asserted that ten
rabbits will eat as much as a cow; but it seems to be
proved that it would take at least fifty or sixty of them to
effect so great a consumption as that. Probably the observ-
ers who have stated the fact, founded their calculations on
the superfluous quantity of herbage which might have been
supplied, and which the rabbits soon reduced to the state
of filthy htter. The objection made to the unwholesome-
ness of rabbit-keeping, in consequence of the smell which
14 THE RABBIT.
their hutches emit if neglected, is equally applicable to any
other breach of cleanly habits. The evil and the remedy
are in the hands of those who made the complaint. The
rabbit itself is naturally a cleanly animal, and when con-
fined by itself will always choose one particular spot or
corner in which to deposit its ordure, and will be careful
' not to defile any other.
The cottager, the only meat on whose table is often a
morsel of salt pork, will not prove so hard to please
when he sits down to a fine rabbit of his own rearing and
fatting.
The food of the rabbit is entirely vegetable. They feed
upon common grass, clover, lucern, and on good hay, pea
and bean vines. Greens and roots form excellent food,
and potatoes boiled or steamed. They will fatten on them,
but still more if they are given oats or bran. Some think
their flesh is less dry when fed chiefly upon succulent
herbs; but with these moist foods they must always have
a proportionable quantity of the dry food, as hay, bread
and oats, bran, brewers’ grains, chaff, and the like; or
when they have greens, they must not have drink. At
all times they drink but little. The test of health is their
dung being not too moist.
“In England,” says a writer in the Cultivator, “the
rabbit formerly held the rank of ‘ farm-stock,’ and thou-
sands of acres were exclusively devoted to its production;
families were supported, and rents, rates, and taxes were
paid from its increase and sale. J remember visiting a
farm of Lord Onslow’s, in Surrey, containing about 1,400
acres. It was in the occupation of an eminent flock-
master and agriculturist, who kept some hundreds of
MERITS AND USES. 15
hutched rabbits for the sake of their manure, which he
applied to his turnip crop; added to this, their skins and
carcasses were quite an item of profit, notwithstanding
the care of them required an old man and a boy, with a
donkey and cart. The food used was chiefly brewers’
erains, millers’ waste, bran and hay, with clover and
roots; the cost of keeping not exceeding two pence a
week. The hutches stood under a long shed, open on all
sides, for the greater convenience of cleaning and feeding.
I was told that the manure was much valued by the mar-
ket gardeners around London, who readily paid 2s. 6d. a
bushel at the rabbitries. These rabbitries are very nu-
merous in all the towns and cities of England, and form a
source of amusement or profit to all classes, from the man
of fortune to the day-laborer. Nor is it unfrequent that
this latter produces a rabbit from an old tea-chest, or dry-
goods box, that wins the prize from its competitor of the
mahogany hutch or ornamental rabbitry.”
NATURE AND HABITS.
Every class of stock-keeping and menagerie manage-
ment, in order to be permanently successful, and not con-
ducted at mere haphazard, must be founded on a previous
knowledge of the habits and constitution of the creatures
kept; and therefore, as we here desire to communicate all
the information which a novice requires, we believe that
the inexperienced breeder of rabbits will best understand
the theory and principles of his art, if we first make him ac-
quainted with the precise nature of the animal with which
he proposes to deal.
“The rabbit belongs to that order of the class Mamma-
lia, or suck-giving animals, which is called Jncisores, be-
cause they cut their food with the front teeth of their
upper and lower jaws. They do not grind it, like the
horse, the ox, and the elephant, for the simple reason
that they have no grinders, or molar teeth. Some of
these ‘‘cutters”’ are carnivorous, or rather omnivorous,
like the rat; others are herbivorous in general, but occa-
sionally insectivorous, like the Guinea-pig (which the old
French writers call the Connil d’Inde, or Indian rabbit) ;
some, like the hare, feed exclusively on vegetables and
grain; and the rabbit, unless Under exceptional circum-
stances, belongs to this latter category. The rabbit and
the Guinea-pig are the only ‘‘cutters” that have been
strictly domesticated by man; though he has made pets
(as)
“NATURE AND HABITS.—BREEDING. 17
of the squirrel, the dormouse, the marmot, the albino
mouse, and one or two others.”
The male rabbit is called ‘a buck,” the female “a
doe.” “The English language has not, like the French, a
special word (/apereaw) to denote the young. Rabbits are
polygamous—one male being quite sufficient for as many
as thirty females; in warrens, only one is allowed to a
hundred. The adult bucks are overbearing, mischievous,
and quarrelsome. Success very much depends on the
way in which they are managed; and consequently, rab-
bit-keeping is an amusement better adapted for boys than
for girls, unless, indeed, they have an elder brother or
parent who will take upon himself the entire direction of
the breeding department.”
BREEDING.
TAME rabbits are raised in hutches or boxes placed in
apartments constructed on purpose for them, or in sheds.
They may also be bred in small artificial warrens, pre-
pared for them, where the soil is extremely dry, and well
drained by a ditch all around it, and having banks raised
for the rabbits to burrow in. A damp situation will be
fatal to. the-stock. As the nature of the rabbit is to dig,
care must be taken to sink the wall or fence sufficient to
prevent them from undermining and making their escape.
The doe will breed at the age of a year, and sometimes
at the age of six months, and her period of gestation is
18 THE RABBIT.
thirty or thirty-one days. But they should not be allowed
to breed at that early age, as they are liable to abortion ;
and even if that misfortune is avoided, their little ones
come into the world exceedingly weak, and sometimes
defective. It cannot be expected to happen otherwise.
Nature, in spite of all her efforts, will fail to develop at
the same time the strength of the mother and of her off-
spring also. The attempt will assuredly be made at the
expense of one or the other—probably both. The young
ones will have to suffer from an insufficient supply of
milk; their constitution will prove weak and rickety;
and the chances are, that they will die of debility before
attaining an age to be of any use.
The doe goes with young thirty, or sometimes thirty-
one days. A fortnight after she has littered, she is ready
to visit the buck again, with whom she should be placed
in the evening, and returned to her young the following
morning. She might be put to him five or six days after
bringing forth, as she is almost always in heat; but she
requires a fortnight’s repose to recover her strength. She
breeds throughout the winter as well as in summer, and
will, therefore, according to strict theory, produce eight
litters in the course of a single year. But all this sup-
poses every circumstance to be invariably favorable :—
that she should be thoroughly well fed, never out of
health, and that no untoward accident happen. A much
safer calculation is to reckon upon six litters a year;
some breeders are even contented with supposing five to
be successfully reared. When the buck is not more than
five or six years old, and the doe than five, it is very rare
that she misses. But should it so happen, give her a
BREEDING. 19
nutritious and stimulating diet, such as parsley, celery,
fennel, thyme, and other aromatic herbs, besides a liberal
diet of oats, bran, or pollard, and sweet hay; keep her
tolerably warm, and in a few days she will be all right
again. After her night’s absence, she will be returned to
her own hutch, and will then suckle her last progeny
another week longer. To keep all the parent animals in
this constant state of isolation is one of the main and
fundamental maxims of rabbit-keeping; for the buck will
not only greatly harass the doe, if he is allowed free ac-
cess to her, but will often kill the young while they are
still blind and helpless.
The number at a birth varies from two or three up to
eight and ten young ones. In general, the larger the
breed, the fewer at a birth. As many as eighteen have
been known in extreme cases. But eight or nine are a
much better average. Some breeders prefer to have no
more than five or six, and take away those that are in
excess. When it can be done without too much disturb-
ance, the plan is a good one, especially when the doe has
lost or destroyed her former litters. Sometimes, when she
is weak and exhausted at the time of littering, she feels that
she can suckle only a limited number, she herself will
save her owner the trouble of killing the supernumeraries,
and will calculate according to her strength how many
ought to be spared. But take six as the average number
of little ones to be produced at each six litters, and we
have thirty-six rabbits in the course of a twelvemonth as
the produce of a single doe. More than that :—at six
months old, the young rabbit is fully capable of becoming
a parent in its turn. In two years, therefore, we should
20 THE RABBIT.
have four successive generations of rabbits all the while
that the fecundity of the original ancestress is still going
on. ‘ Rabbits,” says Pennant, ‘will breed seven times
a year, and bring eight young ones each time.” On a
supposition that this happens regularly during four years,
their numbers will amount to one million, two hundred
and seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and forty
head.
MANAGEMENT OF THE DOE.
THE intelligent breeder ought to know by his stud-book
(for he will give names to his favorites) the day on which
each doe is to bring forth. A few days beforehand, he
will throw into the hutch a large handful of coarse but
sweet hay. She will immediately make use of it to form
her nest, and will employ for the same purpose any
scraps, shreds, or odd bits that she can lay hold of The
first outside structure arranged, she then strips off the fur
from beneath her belly, and devotedly denudes herself, to
secure a soft, warm couch for the reception of her expected
young. At this period, neglect may be fatal; she must
at the same time be kept quiet, and well fed, to support
her in nursing. The omission of a single meal may check
her milk, and occasion the death of several young. Few
things at this time are better for her than carrots and oats.
Wet vegetables are especially injurious. During the first
week, let her have plenty of bran, mingled with a little
salt.
MANAGEMENT OF THE DOE. 21
If the doe has had a previous litter, they must all be
removed before she brings forth a second time; her hutch,
too, ought to have been well cleaned out. ‘Take care not
to touch the young; unless, at least, they are deposited in
a wet place, or any of them die. All unnecessary dis-
turbance or handling is apt to make the mother kill the
whole of her family. When you find a doe overlays or
eats her young, as they sometimes will, mark her well,
and remember the circumstance; for should the same mis-
fortune happen again, the best thing to be done is to fatten
and kill her. If, however, she be a favorite animal, and
an attempt at reformation be resolved upon, she must be
abundantly fed with good substantial food, and disturbed
no more than is absolutely necessary.
MANAGEMENT OF THE YOUNG
THE little animals are born blind and helpless, covered
only with a short velvety down. On the fifth day they
open their eyes; on the sixth, the liveliest little fellows
amongst them begin to peep outside the nest. Ata month
old they eat alone, and partake of food together with their
mother. At six weeks old they no longer require the
doe, and ought to be weaned. ‘This short period is quite
sufficient to allow to be spent in the first term of rearing
them. If they were left longer, they would be apt to ex-
haust the dam, which ought to be avoided. After wean-
ing, two modes of feeding have been adopted, with equal
success :—the first is, to introduce all the weanlings, from
time to time, into a large hutch or common apartment, in
which they are tended carefully, kept warm and clean,
and fed several times in the course of the day. At each
feeding-time, every particle of victuals which has been
trampled upon is scrupulously withdrawn; and it is found
that, by observing these regulations, the losses are very
few, ornone. When two months and a half old, they will
fatten on carrots, oats, hay, and bran, with a few peas now —
and then.
The second plan is to keep together all the young rab-
bits of the same month; that is to say, they are distributed
in six large hutches or apartments, care being taken to
(22)
Bi aes
MANAGEMENT OF THE YOUNG.—HANDLING. 23
separate the males from the females (or to castrate them)
by the end of the third month. From the fifth to the
sixth month, all those intended for sale are disposed of,
after selecting the handsomest and best-tempered does to
serve as breeders. Does will continue prolific until they
are five years old. Beyond that age, it is rare to meet
with rabbits surviving in a domestic state. After that, it
is usual to fatten them for the table; though, in such
cases, the purchaser may complain that he has met with a
hard bargain. The duration of their natural life is said
to be from six to eight years. Buffon extends the term to
nine years.
HANDLING.
RABBITS are sometimes injured by being clumsily han-
dled. The proper way to take hold of them is, to grasp
the ears with the right hand, and to support the rump
with the left. ‘T'o seize them by the leg is apt to dislocate
a limb, especially in the case of creatures that are shy ;
an injudicious gripe round the neck or the body may
prove unexpectedly and suddenly fatal, by injury to the
vertebrae, compression of the lungs, or breaking of the
ribs; a hasty clutch at the tail may cause the fur of that
ornamental member to come off in one piece, and spoil
the animal’s beauty for life. The instantaneous way in
which an adroit hand will kill a rabbit, apparently by the
merest touch, gives a forcible hint as to the caution we should
use in allowing a favorite animal to be captured and pulled
24 THE RABBIT.
about by inexperienced persons. For does with young,
the greatest tenderness is indispensable.
FREDING.
Rassits should be fed twice a day—at morning and at
night. If on green food, it ought to be thoroughly dry
before it is put into their racks or thrown upon the floor
of their hutches. This diet would principally consist of
the refuse of the garden vegetables, taking care to give
only a moderate quantity of cabbages, lettuce, and all
other cold and watery plants. Wet herbage is deadly poison
to rabbits. 'The leaves and roots of carrots, all sorts of
leguminous plants, the leaves and branches (or the prun-
ings) of all kinds of trees, cabbage leaves, wild succory,
parsley, &c., may be the diet of rabbits during summer.
The great point, however, at all seasons, is to make the
dry preponderate over the moist.
According to Mowbray, it is better to feed three times
than twice a day. ‘The art of feeding rabbits with safety
and advantage, is always to give the preponderance to dry
and substantial food. Their nature is congenial with that
of sheep, and the same kind of food, with little variation,
agrees with both. He contends that all weeds and the
refuse of vegetation should be banished from rabbit feed-
ing: such articles being too washy and diuretic, and can
never be worth attention whilst the more solid and nutri-
tious productions of the field may be obtained in such
plenty, and will return so much greater profit. Rabbits
which have as much oats as they will eat, can never take
re
FEEDING. 25
any harm from being indulged with almost an equal por-
tion of good substantial vegetables. However, the test of
their health is that their dung be not too moist.
Mr. H. HE. Platt, of Albany, a successful breeder of lop-
eared rabbits, informs us that he feeds brewers’ grains, and
finds them the best and most economical feed for winter ;
and, contrary to the natural supposition, they do not sour
in the least, and their bowels are kept in good order. The
grain proper for rabbits is oats, peas, wheat, pollard, and
some give buckwheat; the greens and roots, the same as
our cattle or sheep crops; viz., carrots, parsnips, rutabaga,
artichokes, and potatoes, if baked or steamed; lucern,
cabbage leaves, clover, tares, pea and bean haulm. The
best dried herbage is clover and meadow hay, and pea
and bean straw.
“In relation to feeding,” says a writer in the Cultivator,
over the signature of “ R,” who is good authority in such
matters, ‘‘ I would caution breeders not to use lettuce after
the plant begins to put up its seed stalks, as its narcotic
effect is then so strong as to cause death. I lost in one
summer over twenty rabbits from this plant before discoy-
ering the cause. Corn, sown broadcast, affords an abun-
dant and an excellent substitute. I think the rutabaga, asa
winter vegetable, is generally preferred to carrots. Water,
I find, may be given to rabbits when six months old with-
out any ill effects, though so positively interdicted by all
the ‘fancy.’ I have not heretofore sufficiently enforced
the importance of a liberal supply of hay, which, in winter,
affords the rabbit that amount of bulk necessary to the
healthy feeding of all animals, and which oats alone would
not give. It matters not how coarse the hay, nor how full
2
26 THE RABBIT.
of trash and weeds, it will be equally sought, and some-
times preferred to any grain, especially if the rabbit is a
little off its feed.”
A varvety of food is a great thing; and, surely, the fields,
and gardens, and hedges furnish this variety—all sorts of
grasses, strawberry leaves, andivy. They should have oats
once a day. When the doe has young ones, feed her most
abundantly with all sorts of greens and herbage, and with
carrots and other things mentioned before, besides giving
her a few oats once a day. But do not think that, because
- she is a small animal, a little feeding or a little care is suf-
ficient. To those gentlemen who keep rabbits for the use
of their family, (and a very useful and convenient article
they are too,) I would observe, that if they find their rab-
bits die, they may depend on it that ninety-nine times out
of the hundred starvation is the malady.
“Tt is a matter of surprise to an American first visiting
England,” remarks L. F. Allen, in his ‘Rural Architec-
ture,” ‘to see the quantities of game which abound at
certain seasons of the year in London and other markets
of that country, in contrast of the scanty supply, or rather
no supply at all, existing in the markets of American cities.
The reason for such difference is, that in England, Scotland,
Wales, and Ireland, every acre of the soil is appropriated
to some profitable use, while we, from the abundance of
land in America, select only the best for agricultural pur-
poses, and let the remainder go barren and uncared for.
Lands appropriated to the rearing of game, when fit for
farm pasturage or tillage, is unprofitable, generally, with
us; but there are thousands of acres barren for other pur-
poses, that might be devoted to the breeding and pasturage
- eee er Se ee ne
FEEDING. 27
of rabbits, and which, by thus appropriating them, might be
turned to profitable account. All the preparation required.
is, to enclose the ground with a high and nearly close paling
fence, and the erection of a few rude hutches inside for
winter shelter and the storage of their food. They will
burrow into the ground, and breed with great rapidity; and
in the fall and winter seasons, they will be fat for market
with the food they gather from the otherwise worthless soil
over which they run. Rocky, bushy, and evergreen grounds,
either hill, dale, or plam, are good for them, wherever the
soils are dry and friable. The rabbit is a gross feeder,
living well on what many grazing animals reject, and
enawing down all kinds of brush, briars, and noxious
weeds.
“The common domestic rabbits are probably the best
for market purposes, and were they to be made an object
of attention, immense tracts of mountain in New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, New York, and New England, could be
made available for this object.
“Some may think,” continues Mr. Allen, “this a small
business. So is making pins, and rearing chickens and
bees. But there are an abundance of people whose age
and capacity are just fitted for it, and for want of other
employment are a charge upon their friends and the pub-
be.”
On the subject of rearing ‘‘ Fancy Rabbits,” and their
necessary accommodations, we subjoin the following from
the pen of Mr. F. Rotch, of Morris, Otsego county, N. Y.,
who imported the first of the large lop-eared rabbits into
this country, some twelve or fourteen years ago. His
beautiful and high-bred animals have occasionally been
28 “THE RABBIT.
exhibited at the fairs of the State Agricultural Society,
for which premiums have been awarded and the highest
commendations elicited.
“Rabbits kept for profit in the vicinity of a city, and
where there are mills, may be raised at a very small cost;
and when once known as an article of food, will be liber-
ally paid for by the epicure, for their meat is as delicate
as a chicken’s, and their fat mild and very rich.
“YT am surprised they are not more generally kept as a
source of amusement, and for the purpose of experi-
ment.
“There is, I think, in many, a natural fondness for ani-
mals, but not easily indulged without more room than is often
to be found in city residences. Fowls and -pigeons trespass
on our neighbors, and are a frequent cause of trouble.
This objection does not hold good against a rabbit, which
occupies so small a space, that where there is an out-house
there may be a rabbitry. Hnglish children are encouraged
in their fondness for animals, as tending to good morals
and good feelings, and as offering a home amusement, in
contradistinction to street associations.
“In England, and in other parts of Europe, a love for
animals, with the attendance and personal care necessary
to their comfort, is encouraged from childhood up, as havy-
ing a beneficial influence on the character.
_ “The operatives, mechanics, and laborers in other coun- |
tries seem to have a perfect passion for such pursuits, and
take the greatest interest and pride in breeding and perfect-
ing the lesser animals, though often obliged to toil for the
very food they feed to them. Here, too, home influences
are perceived to be good, and are encouraged by the em-
FEEDING. 29
ployer, as supplying the place of other and much more
questionable pursuits and tastes.
“Tn relation to the man of leisure and science, I would
remark, that as the artist delights in the power of moulding
the inert clay into life-like form, so does the intelligent and
amateur breeder find infinite pleasure in the higher and
more difficult art of modelling the live material into its
most symmetrical proportions. And why should there
not be as much satisfaction in producing what is excellent
ona small, as on a large scale? Is not the statuette as
beautiful, and is it not as much an effort of genius and art
as the statue?
“Mo myself,” continues Mr. R., ‘the rabbitry is a ‘stu-
dio,’ whereof th® material is cheap, rapidly produced, soon
perfected, very abundant, and occupying a small space,
and is thus brought under my own immediate care and
observation, with but little trouble, requiring months only
instead of years, to practically test theories and speculations,
and for studying some of the most important, but not
understood, laws of nature. Such as, how far it may be
safe to use close affinities? And if deteriorating, what are
the first and warning symptoms? In what order does the
animal structure give way under a persisted course of such
breeding? ‘The same as to cross-breeding, and how far
the control of the breeder is diminished by its continuance ?
The comparative influence of the parents on the offspring,
and how evinced? ‘These, and many other vnsettled ques-
tions involving the first principles of breeding, would
require almost a lifetime to decide by experiments on the
larger animals, to say nothing of the large outlay it would
=
30 THE RABBIT.
require, and the serious losses fas night reasonably be
expected to attend it.”
With all due appreciation of the very important assist-
ance rendered the agriculturist by analytical chemistry, I
would sooner trust the practical experiments of the rab-
bitry as to the value of the different kinds of food, than I
would the analysis of the laboratory! And though one
may prove that a bushel of rutabaga be little more or less
than a pail of water, yet if the other showed me that tur-
nips, as the principal food, with but two ounces of hay per
day to the rabbit, developed the animal frame by a healthy
growth, an abundance of muscle and some fat, I should be
strongly tempted to pour out the water and pour im the
turnips. .
“Clubs and societies abound for the breeding and exhibi-
tion of the ‘Fancy-Lops,’ now the favorite rabbit in
England, and originally imported from Madagascar.
Much pains have been taken, and much money spent, to
bring them to their present perfection in form, color, and
size; all of which are minutely attended to, and not very
easily combined in any one animal, and hence they form
an admirable test of skill on the part of the breeder.
“ Hor instance, a rabbit, to come out a winner at one of
those exhibitions, must possess all the points of symmetry
in common with the larger animals of the improved
breed; such as a small, clean head, wide and full shoul-,
ders, broad and deep chest, a wide back, large loin, full
quarters, and fine bone.
“Some of us, I suspect, find it no easy matter to get
even thus far in the catalogue of excellences; but to all —
FEEDING. 31
these essentials are to be added the more conventional, and
perhaps the more difficult points, of beauty and fancy, as
laid down by the various societies; embracing not only
form and color, but the particular disposition and forms
of color. —
“ A prize rabbit, then, must possess, besides the before-
mentioned properties, a full, round, clear eye, an ear (col-
ored as the body) long and broad, of a soft, delicate tex-
ture, dropping alike, and nearly perpendicularly, down by
the side of the cheek, with the convex of the ear turned
rather out than in. This is termed its ‘earage. ‘The color
on the body must be in strong, rich, unbroken masses,
spreading itself uniformly over the back, sides, and
haunches, called the ‘saddle,’ but breaking into spots and
patches on the shoulders, known as the ‘chain.’ The
head must be full of color, interspersed with white on the
forehead and cheeks, while the darker marking on the
point of the nose, and on each lip, goes by the name of
the ‘butterfly, from the resemblance it should bear to
that insect. Add to all this a large, full dew-lap, beauti-
fully white, which spreads itself (when the animal reposes)
over the fore feet, and forms a rich cushion for the head.
All this, combined, would indeed form a perfect lop-eared
rabbit, worthy to enter, and likely to win the prize collar,
be it of gold or silver; and the breeder may be proud of
_ his success, though it be but a rabbit. Much consequence
is attached to the length, quality, and carriage of the ear,
in awarding premiums. I was indifferent to this point of
length, and purchased much lower in consequence, paying
from ten to forty shillings sterling apiece for those I im-
. ported, according to age and quality; whereas five guin-
9%
BU THE RABBIT.
eas is not an uncommon price; and individuals have been
sold as high as thirty guineas! The consequence of my
selection is, that out of fifty rabbits, in my rabbitry, I
have not one that will exceed eighteen inches length of
ear from point to point! Whereas the illustrated News
of May, 1850, gave portraits of the two prize rabbits at
the Rochester Show, from the excellent stud of Mr. George
Tavell, measuring in length of ear 212 inches and 211
inches, and nearly five inches wide.”
“The usual colors are black, blue, gray, yellow, and
tortoise-shell, on white grounds. These are called ‘broken
colors; when not mixed with either, they are termed
‘ selfs.’ ”?
“The rabbit easily conforms itself to the means, condi-
tion, and circumstances of its owner: occupies but little
space, breeds often, comes early to maturity, and is, withal,
a healthy animal; requiring, however, to be kept clean,
and to be cautiously fed with succulent food, which must
always be free from dew or rain. Water is unnecessary
for them when fed with ‘greens,’ ”
“To does, when suckling, I give what they will eat of
both green and dry food. The cost to me is about three
cents a head per week.”
“My young rabbits, when taken from the doe, say at
eight or ten weeks old, are turned out together till about
six months old, when it becomes necessary to take them
up and put them in separate hutches, to prevent their
fighting and destroying each other. The doe at that age
is ready to breed; her period of gestation is about thirty-
one days, and she produces from three or four to a dozen
young at a ‘litter.’ It is not well to let her raise more
FEEDING. 33
than six, or even four, at a time—the fewer, the larger
and finer the produce.”
Young rabbits are killed for the table at any age from
twelve weeks to twelve months old, and are a very ac-
ceptable addition to the country larder.
‘Hutches are made singly, or in stacks, to suit the
apartments, which should be capable of thorough ventila-
tion. The best size is, probably, about three feet long,
though some recommend four feet, two feet deep, and
fourteen inches high, with a small apartment partitioned
off from one end, nearly a foot wide, as a breeding-place
for the doe. A wire door forms the front, and an opening
is left behind for cleaning; the floor should have a descent
to the back of the hutch of two inches. All edges should
be tinned, to save them from being gnawed.”
RABBIT COURTS.
“PERHAPS the most pleasing, and, for the animals, the
most healthy place to keep rabbits in, is a paved yard.
If well situated, it becomes, in fact, a practical realization,
on a small scale, of Olivier De Serres’ grand idea. Two
sides of the court-yard may be bounded by tall buildings,
as houses or stabling; if they stand to the north and east,
so much the better. The other two sides should consist
of a wall not more than five feet high, to admit air and
sunshine. For security from intrusion from without, and
to confine any fowls that may be kept within, palings
may be fixed to the top of these low walls, without any
inconvenience arising. The great object is to have the
court at once airy, sunshiny, sheltered, and secure. In
one or two corners of the court, or against one or two of
its sides, there should be thrown a broad heap of earth
and rubbish, eighteen inches lower than the top of the
wall. In this, the rabbits will burrow and amuse them-
selves—though it is better to prevent the does from nest-
ing there, for fear of the attacks of cats and rats. The
buck must be retained a close prisoner, in a box of his
own. The breeding does, when their time of kindling
approaches, will be comfortably settled in separate hutch-
es, to be described hereafter. The day when each doe is
to bring forth will be known from the stud-book, even
if it is not indicated by the preparations she makes—
(34)
RABBIT-COURTS. 35
such as carrying about straws and haulms in her mouth,
and biting them into separate lengths. The rest of the
stock will associate indiscriminately together-in the court,
with the sole exception that all males will be withdrawn,
cut, or sent to the kitchen, as soon as they reach an age
to prove troublesome; and that young ones just weaned,
that is, from six to eight weeks old, will be kept in a
hutch by themselves till they are strong enough to join
the general herd.
The management of the rabbit court is obvious. Food,
_ either dry or green, has only to be scattered about on the
pavement of the court. The small proportion of individ-
uals in confinement will, of course, require extra atten-
tion, which will demand no great time to fulfil properly.
All that is necessary is, to do it regularly and unfailingly.
Rabbits so kept are much more amusing objects than
when they are constantly hidden from sight in their
hutches. Their gambols are seen—their little antics with
one another—their cleanly habits in brushing their fur
coats—and even the petty quarrels and jealousies which
arise from the elder ones striving for the mastery. They
will also become so tame as to eat out of the hand, and to
flock around their feeder when he enters with a bundle of
vegetables or straw. ‘The whole stud should be so liber-
ally supplied with provender, that those intended to be
eaten may be able to fatten upon it; the growing and
the breeding rabbits will amply repay the share they
consume of this liberal diet, by the rapidity with which
they come to hand, and the strength and thriftiness of
the litters they bring forth. A rabbit court like this is
particularly convenient for consuming the refuse and
36 THE RABBIT.
sweepings of a large kitchen and flower-garden. We
strongly recommend a rabbit court to those whose prem-
ises and situation allow of such a plan being adopted.
BABBIT Pre.
ANOTHER form of dwelling, imitating in some degree the
natural habitation of the animal, though less so than the
court, is the rabbit pit. One of this kind is described in
‘arming for Ladies,” and annexed we give awood-cutfrom |
the sketch in that work. The enclosure was only about
twelve feet in diameter, covering a pit of six feet in depth,
in which the rabbits were confined, and through the sandy
sides of which they burrowed to the extent of from ten to
fourteen feet to make their nests. ‘The proprietor, how-
ever, it was said, intended to fill up three feet of the depth,
as he thought that the rabbits should be brought nearer to
the air. The mode of catching the rabbits in the pit was
with a long stick, forked at the end, which was hooked
upon their neck when they came out to feed; or they were
snared with a bit of wire fastened to the end of a stick.
We. quote another rabbit pit from the Agricultural
Gazette :—“In the Isle of Thanet, on the east coast of Kent,
the writer witnessed and superintended, on his own prop-
erty, the method which he now proceeds cursorily to
describe, and the diagram on page 41 will tend to define
the limits of the spaces required.
‘No. | represents a pit five feet on each side of the
square. It is an oblong, four feet long, and about two feet
broad. Both are dug to the depth of six feet, perfectly
RABBIT PIf.
(37)
.
.
Fi
Ps
‘
-
©
RABBIT-PITS. — 39
level at the bottom and sides, the latter so much wider
than the wooden curbs, as to admit of a facing of four-inch
brick-work, in cement, excepting the spaces to admit of
about six arched openings (as marked) of dimensions suf-
ficient for the passage of the largest rabbit. 2, is the feed-
ing department. 38, is only an arched passage, tunnelled at
the ground level of the bottom of the two pits, about a foot
wide and broad, to serve as a communication between the
pits. This is also bricked and arched, but is not seen at the
top. A covering of oil cloth is added to the curb of each
pit, and the cloth extends over the frame several inches
beyond the curb, in order to prevent the entry of the
heaviest rain. At the place op, the arched passage is
always open; and so it is also at the other extremity,
40 THE RABBIT.
marked tr, excepting only when any of the rabbits are to
be taken. Dryness is essential to the prosperity of this
animal, therefore the soil should not only be naturally dry,
but must be protected above, and kept secure at the sides
and bottoms of the pit by the best brick-work. From
what has been stated, it will be understood that a sound
gravelly or sandstone soil forms by far the most appropriate
medium for the warren, which the rabbits burrow into,
and excavate according to their own requirements. Four
does and a buck may be reckoned a good breeding stock ;
and something of the kind was found — the woe
purchased the property.”
The general idea of a rabbit pit being thus suggested,
it will be easy for an amateur to modify it at his pleasure.
Of the two specimens given, we would only observe that
they both appear too small in their dimensions. A pit,
also, is not a nice thing to have on one’s premises. We
doubt whether animals kept constantly below the surface
of the ground would be maintained in such good health
as those above it. Undoubtedly, the most perfect arrange-
ment would be a combination of the rabbit court with the
rabbit pit.
*
RABBIT HUTCHES.
WE now come to what appears the simplest of all mat-
ters, and which yet, if it be not well contrived, will have
a most influential effect in causing failure. From a tea-
chest to a worn-out portmanteau or a leaky tub, any-
thing has been thought good* enough to keep a rabbit in.
“Hiverybody,” says Cobbett, “knows how to knock up a
rabbit hutch.” If the rabbits themselves could only speak,
’ they would tell us that many a body sets about it in bung-
ling manner, and proves himself profoundly ignorant of
the fundamental principles of rabbit architecture.
To learn these, we must go to the warren. There we
find that the rabbit makes its dwelling in a sandy soil, and
therefore well drained; in hillocks and mounds, in prefer-
ence to hollow bottoms, and therefore dry. ‘The burrows
frequently communicate with each other, and therefore
allow a certain amount of ventilation, the wmd blowing
into the mouth of the hole being often sufficient to insure
that. The thick stratum of light earth which covers the
habitations of a colony of rabbits, causes coolness in sum-
mer and warmth in winter. In the depth of a burrow it
never freezes, and is never oppressively hot. In short,
with the exception of the absence of light, which is of little
importance in a sleeping-place, a rabbit’s burrow, magnified
to corresponding proportions, would make, at a pinch, a
ay
ee THE RABBIT.
very bearable dwelling for human beings devoid of other
shelter; the nest which a doe prepares for her young is
soft and warm enough for a baby to lie in, if sufficiently
enlarged. And in truth, many thousands of our fellow-
creatures spend their lives, are born, and die, in cellars
which are less wholesome than a rabbit’s burrow on this
large imaginary scale would be. |
Whatever form of hutch, therefore, be adopted, it should
be well sheltered, if possible; it should stand within an-
other airy building, or at least under cover. Its tempera-
ture should never descend to the freezing point, nor mount
beyond summer heat—scartely so high, if it can be avoided.
On this account, rabbit hutches, or cabins of brick-work,
built in a court, offer many advantages; if made of wood,
the material should be solid. Were we now to recom-
mence rabbit-keeping, we would contrive a hutch whose
top should be thatched with straw and reeds, to avoid all
sudden chills, as well as bakings and broilings from the
noontide sun. Of course, all sorts of drippings from eaves,
draughts of air, and inundations from bad drainage, should
be placed out of the possibility of annoying the rabbits.
Many stocks, unfortunately, are constantly exposed to all
these evils. Their owners then complain that they do
not succeed, and lay all the fault of the failure to
the poor, good-for-nothing, troublesome, and tender
creatures.
‘Hor this reason, hutches should never stand on the
level of the ground; they should be raised at least a few
inches (though a foot or two is better), either on legs or
benches. The wood of which they are constructed ought
to be thick, more for the sake of warmth than for strength;
HOUT
Oy
SECTION OF A TWO-TIER RABBIT HUTCH.
(43)
RABBIT HUTCHES. 45
for if the rabbits do happen to gnaw them, ten to one it is
done more for the want of dry food and an irresistible
craving after it, than for mischief’s sake. The dimensions
will vary according to circumstances, and every amateur
will suit his own convenience; but no hutch to contain a
single full-grown rabbit, ought to be less than a good yard
square in area. ‘The depth is of less consequence.
We now give a wood-cut of a form of hutch which has
many advantages, and which is useful where a large stock
is kept, because. it is capable of being repeated to any
extent in length, like a row of houses, and also, as the
annexed figure shows, may be constructed with a couple of
stories or more. The first, or false bottom (2), is a frame-
work of strong splines, with a sufficient interval between
them to allow the urine and small fragments of offal to
pass through. About an inch beneath this first bottom is
a second (1), of wood, covered with zinc. It is fixed with
a gentle slope from back to front, to aid the escape of the
urine to the gutter, which will be conveyed to a pail (7)
by means of a tube (6), which communicates with the
inclined bottom of each hutch. This bottom ought to be
movable, slipping in a groove, in order that it may be
more easily cleansed. ‘T’o avoid all likelihood of infection,
the bucket which receives the urine should be carefully
emptied twice a day, and well rinsed out; for the urine
of the rabbit is the sole cause of any offensive smell which
may emanate from a hutch. The door of the hutch (5) is
a frame of wire-work, suspended at the top by a couple of
hinges, and opening at the bottom. It is kept shut by a
hook or a button. Doors like these are easy to open, and
allow a convenient means of changing the litter, which
46 THE RABBIT.
requires to be removed from time to time. If preferred,
however, the door may go to slip in a groove, or to open
at the side; but the former plan is altogether the best.
Kach hutch should be furnished with a little rack, fixed
against one of the sides, to prevent the rabbits from wast-
ing their food; for, like other of our domestic animals,
they will reject the provender which they have once trod-
den and blown upon. In courts, a little rack on the model
of a sheep rack is not only a pretty toy, but a useful arti-
cle of furniture. At the back a little trough or manger
should be fixed, to hold the bran and corn which is desir-
able for all, but more especially for nursing-does. The
troughs for hutches in which weanling rabbits are kept
should be very narrow, to prevent the little ones from get-
ting into them.
Besides the hutches destined for does, there should be
one of larger dimensions for the buck, not only to accom-
modate his robuster proportions, but to allow a doe to
spend the night with him conveniently.
“This matter of rabbitry,” observes Mr. Allen, in his
“Rural Architecture,” “and its various explanations, may
be considered by the plain, matter-of-fact man, as below
the dignity of people pursuing the useful and money-making
business of life. Very possible. But many boys—for
whose benefit they are chiefly introduced—and men even,
may do worse than to spend their time in such apparent
trifles. It is even better than going to a horse-race. It is
better even than going to a trotting match, where fast men,
as well as fast horses, congregate. It is better, too, than a
thousand other places where boys want to go when they
have nothing to interest them at home.
RABBIT HUTCHES. 47
One half of the farmers’ boys, who, discontented at
home, leave it for something more congenial to their feel-
ings and tastes, do so simply because of the excessive dul-
ness and want of interest in objects to attract them there,
and keep them contented. Those who have been well
and indulgently, as well as methodically, trained, may look
back and see the influence which all such little things had
upon their early thoughts and inclinations; and thus realize
the importance of providing for the amusements and pleas-
ures of children in their early years. The dovecote, the
rabbitry, the poultry-yard, the sheep-fold, the calf-pen,
the piggery, the young colt of a favorite mare, the yoke of
yearling steers, or a fruit tree which they have planted
and nursed, and called it, or the fruit it bears, their
ewn—anything, in fact, which they can call therrs—are
so many objects to bind boys to their homes, and hallow
it with a thousand nameless blessings and associations,
known only to those who have been its recipients. Heay-
en’s blessings be on the family homestead!”
We will now present the elevation and floor plan of
Mr. Rodman’s rabbitry, from Mr. Allen’s work, together
with the front and rear views of the hutches within them.
No. I is the gable end elevation of the building, with a
door and window.
_ No. 2 is the main floor plan, or living-room for the
rabbits. |
EXPLANATION.—A, the doe’s hutches, with nest boxes
attached. B, hutches three feet long, with movable par-
No. 1.—G@ABLE END ELEVATION.
|
|
iI
TMM
(!
No.
(48)
II.—MAIN
°
FLOOR PLAN.
——-- ff
RABBIT HUTCHES. AQ
titions for the young rabbits; the two lower hutches are
used for the stock bucks. C, a tier of grain boxes on the
floor for feeding the rabbits—the covers sloping out
towards the room. D, small trap-door, leading into the
manure cellar beneath. H, large trap-door, leading into
the root cellar. F', troughs for leading off urine from rear
of hutches into the manure cellar at K, K. G, wooden
trunk, leading from chamber above No. 38, through this
into manure cellar. H, trap opening into manure cellar.
‘I, stairs leading into loft No. 3, with hinged trap-door
over head; when open, it will turn up against the wall,
and leave a passage to clear out the hutches.
Notr.—The grain boxes are one foot high in front, and
fifteen inches at the back, with sloping bottoms and sloping
covers. The floors of the hutches have a slope of two inches
back. The hutches are furnished, at the back of the floor,
with pieces of zinc, to keep them free from the drippings
from above. The hutches are sixteen inches high, three
feet long, and two feet deep.
The foregoing plans and explanations might perhaps be
sufficient for the guidance of such as wish to construct a
rabbitry for their own use; but as a complete arrangement
of all the rooms which may be conveniently appropriated
to this object, to make it a complete thing, may be accept-
able to the reader, we conclude, even at the risk of pro-
lixity, to insert the upper loft, and cellar apartments, with
* which we have been furnished; hoping that our youthful
friends will set themselves about the construction of a
branch of rural employment so home-attaching in its
associations,
3
ae)
Oo
fet
No. IlII.—LOFT, OR GARBET.
|
ft
DD 8 7 OO s28 2 2:6
0)
RABBIT HUTCHES. B 51
No. 3 is the loft or chamber story, next above the main
floor.
HXPLANATION.—A, place for storing hay. 3B, stairs
leading from below. ©, room for young rabbits. D, trap-
door into trunk leading to manure cellar. EH, partition
four feet high. This allows of ventilation between the
two windows, in summer, which would be cut off, were
the partition carried all the way up.
No. 4 is the cellar under the rabbitry.
EXPLANATION.—A, manure cellar. 3B, root cellar. C,
stairs leading to first, or main floor. - D, stairs leading
- outside. EH, window—lighting both rooms of cellar.
No. 5 is a front section of rabbit hutches, eight in num-
ber, two in a line, four tiers high, one above another, with
wire-screened doors, hinges, and buttons for fastening.
A, the grain trough, is at the bottom.
No. 6 is the floor section of the hutches, falling, as before
mentioned, two inches from front to rear. A, is the door
to lift up, for cleaning out the floors. JB, is the zinc plate,
to carry off the urine and running wash of the floors. C,
is the trough for carrying off this offal mto the manure
cellars, through the trunk, as seen in No. 2.
No. 7 is a rear section of hutches, same as in No. 5, with
the waste trough at the bottom leading into the trench
52 THE RABBIT.
before described, with the cross section, No. 8, before
described in No. 6.
A, a grated door at the back of the hutch, for ventila-
tion in summer, and covered with a thin board in winter.
Acaniitltid Matilda ileal AE A AT AANA YA [ 3
S
| ier
SECTIONS.
MAYAN HU AiVISLN ULL ceri MOVOTETUEL OLAV PAGE UCOUUUUUUTA OTE
Nos.
O F @
Y. AND VI,—FRONT AND FLOOR
SHUNT NTT TTA TEM TMM MMT TTI
zi
—
Phim LILA TT ARR RAB
B. a flap-door, four inches wide, which is raised for clean-
ing out the floor; under this door is a space of one inch,
for passing out the urine of the rabbits. ©, are buttons
RABBIT HUTCHES. 53
for fastening the doors. D, the backs of the bed-rooms,
without any passage out on back side.
When rabbits are kept on a large scale, the hutches are
assembled in one inclosure or building, which should be
SUNN
ON
HUTENCUERCN ETUC STAVE EAULUcL
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covered with a roof and surrounded with walls to secure
it from the weather, and the depredations of cats, rats, and
other vermin. It is desirable that the inclosure be paved
with square tiles; which should have their joints well
54 THE RABBIT.
closed with cement, in order to prevent all leakage of
urine or slops beneath the pavement. This accident is
one of the causes most likely to engender disease amongst
the stock. The reason is plain: the earth on which the
pavements rest becomes sodden with liquid filth, an un-
pleasant smell is constantly exhaled, and whatever cleanli-
ness may be observed above ground, beneath is a fertile
source of epidemic maladies, which will go on increasing
from month to month, and will sooner or later cause serious
injury. In this inclosure rows of hutches are ranged one
or more stories high. The first row will touch the wall;
a passage will be left between that and the next row, and
so on, till the inclosure is full, when you have a series of
parallel passages and rows of hutches, allowing free ven-
tilation and easy access of the persons who tend them.
In such an establishment, a constant renewal of air is a
matter of the first necessity, which may be insured by
fixing in the wall small grated windows opposite each
other. If unpleasant smells are perceived, on entering int
the morning, it is a hint to the rabbit-keeper to look to his
litter and his ventilation. Hutches that are too small and
too closely crowded together—that are cold and damp, or
dirty and foetid—are sufficient in themselves to bring on
all the diseases to which rabbits are liable. Their result
is loss of health, ophthalmia, want of appetite, diarrhcea,
pot-belly, rot, mange and death. In the first stage of these
disorders, something may be done by vigorous sanitary
measures of cleanliness and ventilation, with judicious
feeding and disinfection by means of chloride of lime.
Rabbits are naturally of a robust constitution, and are but
slightly liable to be attacked by small ailments; but when
RABBIT HUTCHES. 5D
they do become diseased, we may be sure that the evil is
of serious consequence.
We next give the figure of an independent hutch with
two apartments, which has been found very useful to con-
tain a doe and her weanling young, before they are old
and strong enough to join the other fatting rabbits in the
court. It is also useful for the young beginner who is
making his first trial with two or three half-grown indi-
viduals of the sort of which he fancies. It is easily moved
under shelter or into the open air, easily tended and cleaned
out, and not costly to make.
TWO-ROWED HUTCH.
Nos. 1 and 2 are the drainers, the second twice as large
as the first, communicating with a slding-door D, which
can be opened or shut at pleasure. At each end is also a
door. The roof R, R, in separate pieces, is on one side a
wooden lid, moving on hinges at the top, and available
either to put in food or hay, or to catch the animals within.
T’, ‘I’, are small troughs in front, for the reception of oats,
56 THE RABBIT.
pollard, or peas. A little rack may be added at the back
part; and an iron handle at each end, or at H, will enable
a couple of persons to lift it from place to place with ease.
It stands upon legs to raise it from the damp ground, and
to keep mice from getting in and stealing the grain. The
floor is pierced with holes to let the urine escape; other
ordure can be removed through the gap at the bottom,
into which the troughs are inserted, and which may also
be contrived to admit a false bottom, like that of a bird-
cage, but perforated, which every morning may be cleaned
and scraped, besides being sprinkled with sand or straw.
The dimensions of this hutch will greatly depend upon
the room which the amateur has at command ; but he will
bear in mind, that the less cramped his pets are in their
lodging, the better they will thrive.
A
ys Saree
Sadi © TIFON-OF STOCK:
HOW TO COMMENCE RABBIT-BREEDING.
WE again call to our aid the little treatise on the rabbit
of Mr. Delamer.
“To begin rabbit-keeping,” says the author, “there are
two modes of obtaining stock, which the amateur has the
choice of adopting.” This isin England. ‘The first plan
_is to purchase full-grown animals, a buck and as many
does as may be required, and to let them breed once.
Some persons are so little disposed to wait for the produce,
that they will buy a doe or two far advanced with young,
in order to see her progeny arrive as early as possible
into the world. The second mode is to obtain one or two
litters of young rabbits, after they are fairly weaned, at
about nine or ten weeks old, and to tend them, and keep
them, and to feed them up, till they are arrived at an
age capable of being productive. Having ourselves repeat-
edly tried these two modes at different times of our life,
we unhesitatingly recommend the second for preference,
for the following reasons :—
In the first place, whoever sets about keeping any spe-
cies of domestic bird or animal for the first time, will have
a great many little details to learn, which will be most
easily acquired by the observation of individuals sufliciently
Q% (57)
58 THE RABBIT.
advanced in life to do without the care of their parents,
and also immature as not to require quite yet the fulfilment
of the great law of nature,—“increase and multiply.”
There will be nothing beyond themselves to attend to.
We need only hint at the many points of health, dirt, hab-
its, and peculiarities both of breeds, individuals, and sexes,
with which the amateur will thus become practically
acquainted, and which will render him more competent
for the management of his pets when they come to have
offspring in their turn. It is also a more economical plan,
requiring less outlay, and less liable to loss. Quite young
rabbits, of any ordinary kinds, can be bought both on the
continent and in England for a few shillings. In case of
failure, deaths are of less consequence; in the event of
success, superabundant males, and ugly and unpromising
females, will always be useful to make their appearance on
the table. But to buy full-grown does that have already
reared two or three litters, of handsome appearance, and
probably the favorites of their owner, the purchaser must
expect to open his purse-strings, especially if he applies to
a respectable dealer; a disrespectable one might possibly
sell him, at a low price, a doe, which, though a good-look-
ing animal, may have some unseen but serious defect ;
such as an invincible propensity to eat her young, or lurk-
ing symptoms of pot-belly and rot. Another point should
not be forgotten: some does, which have proved excellent
mothers with their old master, if changed to fresh quarters
(particularly if they have to travel far) when near their
time of kindling, and tended upon by unaccustomed hands,
and gazed at by strange faces, will not do well in their
new abode. They are apt to make an imperfect nest, to
——= >
~.
SELECTION OF STOCK. 59
neglect their young, and even to kill them; and this habit
once begun, is ever afterwards to be apprehended.
All these various mishaps, which have disgusted many
a young beginner, are avoided by stocking the court or
the hutches with young individuals, which can be selected
from, thinned out, or exchanged, till the amateur has got
a stud to his mind. All the males, be it observed, must
be secluded as soon as they are four or five months old.
If, after the foregoing caution, it be still determined to
begin with a stock of full-grown animals, the points to be
insisted on are, in the doe, teats visibly in a healthy and
natural state, plump and swelled with milk if the term of
pregnancy is advanced, or she has already littered; the
head, with reference to the length of the muzzle and the
breadth and development of the occiput, should form a
sort of wedge; ears long, broad, and fine; chest expanded;
legs strong, and wide apart. As far as profit and fecundity
are concerned, a doe ought to bring forth not less than
eight at each birth on an average. If she constantly pro-
duces less, it will be advisable to change her, even although
she may be young and in good health; for itis an acknow-
ledged fact that all individuals are not equally suited for
reproduction.
The buck is at his best from one to five years of age;
the doe, from eight months to four years: of course, care
will be taken to see that they are not pot-bellied. Hard
and well- pelleted dung is a certain indication of good
health. It would be very convenient if there were unfail-
ing signs, as in oxen, sheep, and horses, by which the
exact age of a rabbit, up to a given period, could be ascer-
tained; but all that can be done is, to distinguish vaguely
60 THE RABBIT.
an old one from a young one. ‘The least equivocal symp-
toms of old age are, the general solidity and thickness of
the skeleton, especially at the joints, as far as they can be
felt by handling; the development of the belly to a con-
siderable amount of obesity; and finally, the length and
thickness of the nails.
Breeding does, when kept in hutches, are much better
each in a hutch to herself, than inhabiting one common
dwelling, however roomy it may be. When a number of
does live in the same hutch, the consequences are some-
times quite as unfortunate as if the buck were in company
with them. If a doe kindles, and leaves her little ones a
moment to feed, the other does immediately crowd round
the nest, through an instinct of curiosity, peep into, and
not seldom disturb it with their fore paws. The mother
rushes up to drive the other does away; a battle ensues;
and half the little rabbits are either killed or wounded for
life. The pregnant does which take. part in these skir-
mishes, generally suffer abortion in consequence of their
excitement, and the blows which they give and receive in
the combat. Their owner may read the Riot Act after-
wards, but the mischief is done.
WARTE TINS OF KRABBIES:
THE Rabbit is thought to have been originally a native
of Spain, but has been common in the rest of Europe for
ages. By domestication the colors of this species, as of
all others which have been reclaimed by man, are very
various: some individuals being black, blue, yellow, white,
gray, lead color, and mixed in blotches of black and white,
blue and white, &c.; one variety, called the Angora Rab-
bits, 1s furnished with long silky hair, something lke the
Angora Goat.
The wild rabbits are only mentioned here to warn the
reader against supposing that their young, if caught at an
early age, will be of any use to bring up in a domestic
state. Of all the troublesome tasks a rabbit-fancier can
undertake, is the attempt to rear a nest of young rabbits
which have been taken from the warren, the field, or the
down. We speak on this matter from experience. The
difference of disposition is so immense and radical, that
practical people are inclined to believe the two races to be
derived from a distinct stock and origin. ‘ Fancy rabbits,”
says Mr. Rogers, in his useful little treatise, “are not, as
is generally supposed, the result of an improvement in the
English breed of rabbits ; but were originally brought from
Tartary, Persia, and Asia Minor; and have been made the
means of improving the domestic breeds in this country.
(61)
62 THE RABBIT.
They require more warmth than the common English
domestic rabbits; and thrive best when kept in an atmos-
phere the warmth of which varies from temperate to sum-
mer heat.”
Domestic rabbits may be divided into four general lead-
ing varieties: the Small Common Tame Rabbits, the Large
Tame Rabbits, the Lop-eared sorts, and the Angolas.
Between each of these there are numerous half-breeds.
Angora rabbits are distinguished by having long silky
hair; their colors are mostly either pure white, or a mix-
ture of black and white, or gray and white. Their fur is
valuable when the skins can be obtained in considerable
quantity ; but they are delicate in constitution, less prolific,
and many prejudiced persons object to eating them, because,
they say, they resemble cats. Notwithstanding which,
Angora rabbits are very pretty creatures, and well deserve
the attention of those who think more about beauty and
amusement than profit. We once saw, some fifteen years
since, quite a large number of these beautiful little Angora
Rabbits, in a yard of the late H. Watson, Hsq., of New
Windsor, near Hartford, Conn. They were very tame
and quiet, and made quite a handsome show.
The common small farm rabbits are the nearest in size
and appearance to the warren sorts. These are black,
white, parti-colored, blue or slate colored, and brown or
wild colored. ‘They are hardy and prolific, suited for
people living in a blustering climate, with only a limited
supply of provender at command; they suffer less from
neglect than the others,—though the less of that misfor-
tune they have to undergo, the better. They are cheaper
to buy, and, in short, are just the stock for a boy to begin
ANGOLA RABBIT,
(83)
VARIETIES OF RABBITS. 65
with, till his experience entitles him to aspire to keep the
fancy breeds. On the table, their flavor is as good as any,
though they make a less magnificent dish when served up
whole.
The large variety of tame rabbit is colored much the
same as the former, except that it 1s more likely to pro-
duce albinos,—white individuals, with no coloring pigment
in their eyes, and thence called “red-eyed” rabbits, be-
cause the blood circulating in the fine transparent vessels
gives them that tint. White lop-eared rabbits in general
have black eyelids and common eyes. With skilful man-
agement and liberal feeding, the large variety may be
made to attain the weight of twenty pounds. That, or a
trifle over, is the maximum. French Flanders has long
been celebrated for, and still produces, admirable speci-
mens of this variety. It can hardly be called a fancy
rabbit, since it has not the lop ears which distinguish
those breeds. It is merely an exaggeration or an enlarge-
ment of the smaller kind, though an accurate eye will ob-
serve that the proportions of its form are somewhat more
elongated.
Weiner ier nd Tae tir say
SO et)
Pa ui
ie Bre Loy
eae EY
ee
Wet.
+, Oe
hvu Be
i ond s
Ww ae
THE LOP-EARED RABBIT,
HALF LOP
(68)
maN CY RABBITS.
ZOP-HAR RABBITS.
THE lop-ear rabbits are the kinds which fanciers delight
to revel in. The ears, instead of rising from the head,
with a tendency and inclination backward, like the com-
mon or wild variety, fall more or less to the side, as if
they had been folded and pressed down artificially, form-
img, more or less, decidedly pendant ears. Some few
varieties of goats and sheep exhibit a similar malforma-
tion, for so it may be fairly called.
In rabbits, the first approximation to this peculiarity is
shown by the halflop, where one ear falls downwards or
frontwise, and the other remains in its natural position, as
seen in the Frontispiece. The difference in the ears is very
unsightly, and is a great blemish in a fancier’s eye; because
the ears of all fancy rabbits ought to be exactly alike,
both in their shape, and in the way they point or fall.
Otherwise, it is as if a man had one short arm and one
long one, or one half of his face with a different sort of
countenance from the other half; and yet, a half-lop doe,
if her other qualities are good, is not to be hastily dis- |
(69)
TO FANCY RABBITS.
carded; because she may, if judiciously coupled, produce ~
a few approved specimens in almost every litter. For if
is curious that, with fancy rabbits, when both the parents —
are perfectly formed, have model ears, and are handsomely
marked, their progeny do not invariably turn out the ~
same; while from imperfect parents, if they have good
blood in their veins, there is a considerable chance of rear-
ing at least a small number of superior young. Rabbit-
breeding, in such a case, acquires the same sort of interest —
as the florist enjoys when he hopes to find in a bed of ~
seedling dahlias or carnations a first-rate specimen or two, —
that shall reward him for all his patience and expense.
Still, the chances of success are greater when both tho:
parents have the desired characteristics.
The oar-lop is the next stage of deflection, when the
ears extend horizontally outwards on each side, forming
a line that is more or less straight, giving the idea of a
pair of oars which a waterman is resting out of the water
in his row-locks, while having a gossip as he is seulling”
along. The term “oar-lop” is sufficiently descriptive.
The horn-lop rabbit has ears which descend obliquely
from the sides of the head, somewhat like the “ cow with
the crumpled horn,” in the immortal ‘ House that Jack
built.” |
Flat-lops are the most natural, and therefore the most.
perfect and valuable, rabbits, in a fancier’s estimation.
The ears of the animal, instead of pointing upwards and
backwards, take a sudden turn downwards and forwards,
immediately from the crown of the head.
‘The dew-lap 1s a point not to be neglected in the appear-
ance of a fancy rabbit. It is sometimes compared to the
DEWLAP RABBIT.
(71)
THE RABBIT. fps:
dew-lap of a bull, or to the pendant skin, hardly to be
called a pouch, which hangs under the chin in the African
goose; but is really more like the double chin one some-
times sees ornamenting the neck of a well-fed old gentle-
man, or a full-blown matron, whose circumstances are
easy, and whose labors are slight. It has the appearance
of a goitre, without its unseemliness,—though goitred la-
dies are not without their admirers. The rabbit looks as
if it had put on a fur tippet of the same material as its
own, by way of a comforter, serving also as a cushion for
the chin to rest upon, when “Bunny” is enjoying its
afternoon’s doze. A thick dew-lap is considered a great
beauty and recommendation, but it is only slightly visible
till the animal has arrived at its adult state.
MARKINGS: THE SMUT AND THE
CHAIN—CARBIAGE.
OTHER points in fancy rabbits are more conventional
and variable, and depend more upon individual taste.
Peculiarities which are the rage to-day, may be only coldly
looked upon to-morrow. Amongst these are those varie-
ties of the anima! which are discriminated by the combi-
nation of colors respectively belonging to them. We
quote a paragraph from Mr. Rogers :—
“The fur of fancy rabbits may be blue, or rather lead-
color and white, or black and white, or tawny and white,
that is, tortoise-shell-colored. But it is not of so much
importance what colors the coat of a rabbit displays, as it
is that those colors should be arranged in a particular
4.
74 FANCY RABBITS.
manner, forming imaginary figures, or fancied resemblan-
ces of certain objects. Hence the peculiarities of their
markings have been denoted by distinctive designations.
What is termed the “blue butterfly smut” was for some
time considered the most valuable of fancy rabbits. It is
thus named on account of having bluish or lead-colored
spots on either side of the nose, considered as having
some resemblance to the spread wings of a butterfly, what
may be termed the groundwork of the rabbit’s face being
white. A black and white rabbit may also have the face
marked in a similar manner, constituting a ‘black butter-
fly smut.”
“But a good fancy rabbit must likewise have other
marks, without which it cannot be considered as a perfect
model of its kind. There should be a black or blue
patch of fur on its back, called the saddle; the tail must —
be of the same color with the back and snout; while the
legs should be all white; and there ought to be dark
stripes on both sides of the body in front, passing back-
wards to meet the saddle, and uniting on the top of the
shoulders, at the part called the withers in a horse. These ©
stripes form what is termed ‘the chai,’ having some-
what the appearance of a chain or collar hanging round ~
the neck.
“The beauty and consequent worth of a fancy rabbit,
however, depend a good deal on its shape, or what is termed
its ‘carriage.’ A rabbit is said to have a good carriage —
when its back is finely arched, rising full two inches above
the top of its head, which must be held so low as for the
muzzle and the points of the ears to reach almost to the
eround,”
=.
SALABLE VALUE.
Mr. RoceErs says:—“ The price of a fancy rabbit, like
that of any other curiosity, must depend upon its display-
ing more or less qualities which have been considered as
constituting the perfection ofits kind. Considerable sums
have no doubt been sometimes paid for particularly fine
specimens of fancy rabbits. Well-bred rabbits may fre-
.quently be purchased at reasonable rates when young;
and if well tended and managed, they may afterwards
prove very valuable.” Prize rabbits have been sold at
five pounds sterling; and even eighteen guineas have been
paid for a prize rabbit.
“To all this,” says #&., in the Cultivator, “I am well
aware, the question will arise with many of your readers—
Cui bono? And the conclusion as definitively follow—
‘Tt won't pay.’ Perhaps not; and yet I believe that were
things tried on a small scale, and a small club formed for
the purpose of exhibition and experiment, that it would
become, to its members, a source of much more interest
than they could now suppose. As opportunities will now
become numerous of purchasing rabbits from the best
London breeders, I will give you the following names :—
Dr. Handy, just over Waterloo Bridge; Mr. Payne, 142
White Chapel; Mr. Bailey, of the Star Coffee-House,
Union street, out of Bishopsgate; Mrs. Webster, Pleasant
(75)
76 PROPERTIES REQUIRED FOR PRIZES.
Place, Stamford street, Blackfriars Road, over Waterloo —
Bridge. From these breeders other addresses can be ob- —
tained, and stocks examined.” We may add, also, that
very superior specimens of the lop-eared rabbits may be ~
obtained, in this country, of F. Rotch, Esq., and R. H. —
Van Rensselaer, of Morris (formerly Butternuts), Otsego a
County, New York. a
PROPERTIES REQUIRED FOR
PRIZES.
IN competing for prizes in England, there are seven .
properties required :—First. Length of ears—the longer, —
the better. Second. The width of ears. Third. Carriage —
of the ears—~z. e., the way they fall. They ought to be
nearly perpendicular in their fall—that is, so as to drop
close to the outer corner of the eye. Fourth. The size
and form of the eye—the larger and fuller, the better.
Fifth. Color of the fur. These are blue and white, yellow
and white, gray and white tortoise-shell, black and white, ©
gray, black, blue, and white, with red eyes. Sixth. Shape.
Of the general beauty of form, any common observer can
judge. High forehead and broad poll are required for
first-class animals. Seventh. Weight. At a little over
seven months, the heaviest are from ten to twelve pounds.
They are not permitted to compete for prizes beyond
eight months old.
A correspondent of the Cottage Gardener states himself
to be a rabbit-fancier of thirty years’ standing, and that he
bred the longest-eared rabbit ever known. He has her
THE RABBIT. TE
(for it was a doe) preserved in a glass case. Her ears,
from tip to tip, measured twenty-two inches, and each ear
in width was five inches and three-eighths. Her weight
was eighteen pounds.
Bee OING AND KILLING FOR THE
PAT ES.
THe flavor of tame rabbits is improved by feeding
them, a few days before they are killed, on aromatic
plants, of which the list is numerous. Some people also
fill the belly of the rabbit, after it is killed and drawn,
with a wisp of thyme, marjoram, and sage. The usual
_mode of killing tame rabbits, by giving them a blow be-
hind the ear, is faulty, and liable to the objection that a
large quantity of blood coagulates about the place which
is struck. It is better to kill them exactly like fowls, by
cutting the jugular artery, and then to hang them up by
the hind legs. In that position the blood drains away,
and the flesh is rendered beautifully white. The skins,
however, suffer, and sell for less if they are besmeared
with blood. The cook’s perquisite is thus diminished ;
and, in rabbit-keeping on a large scale, the reduction of
price would be of serious importance.
OR EE a Se ae
CASTRATION.
THE contempt with which such small cattle as rabbits
are usually regarded by practical people, is the cause why
they are but rarely subjected to the operation of- castra-
tion, which, in their case, is performed with greater ease, _
and even with more satisfactory results, than on oxen, ~~
sheep, and pigs. We have eaten caponized rabbits; and
they were far superior, in size, flavor, and fatness, to what
they would have been if suffered to remain in their natu-
ral state. We would advise every rabbit-keeper to cas-
trate, at the age of three or four months, every young
buck which he does not intend to dispose of or retain for
breeding purposes. Besides the rapid increase in size, a
great advantage gained is the conversion of a mischievous
into an inoffensive animal. Instead of being often a dan-
gerous enemy to the does, to the young ones, and to the
other bucks (for the males, if not so treated, will engage
in deadly combats when they meet), it may then be suf-
fered to associate indiscriminately with the others, without
fear or apprehension.
The mode of castrating rabbits is very simple. It is
performed by seizing with the thumb and the two first
fingers of the left hand one of the testicles, which the
animal will endeavor to draw up internally. When the
operator has succeeded in grasping it, he divides the skin
(78)
THE RABBIT. 79
longitudinally with a sharp knife, presses outwards the
oval body which he has seized, draws it out, and throws
it away. After repeating the performance on the other
side, he anoints the wounds with a little fresh hog’s lard,
or he closes them by a stitch with a needle and thread—
or perhaps he leaves the cure to nature. When the oper-
ation is skilfully performed, the healing process is rapidly
completed ; and it not only disposes the animal to carry
a great deal more flesh and fat, but the skin also is con-
_ siderably increased in. value.
DISEASES.
THEIR PREVENTION AND CURE.
“ Amonest rabbits, as with poultry, diseases are more
easily prevented than cured. We have seen advertised
in the newspapers specific medicines for ailing rabbits.
‘Roup and Condition Pills,’ and ‘The Poultry Restora-
tive—a certain Cure for all Diseases,’ may probably be
useful tonics in the case of fowls; but with the delicate
species of quadruped which is the subject of the present
treatise, negligence and mismanagement are so fearfully
punished, that it strongly behoves the amateur to take
care that his arrangements and mode of feeding be such
as to give him the least amount possible of disease to
deal with. ‘The loss of whole litters at once, or even a
general mortality amongst his entire stock, will often be the
consequence of carelessness and want of judgment. Many
and many a small farmer and market gardener has made
80 DISEASES.
attempts to keep rabbits, and has soon given them up
again, in utter disgust at the complete want of success
which has attended his efforts. A few plain hints might
have saved him the disappointment, and have enabled
him to conduct his experiment with a more satisfactory
and profitable result. On this account, we think it right
to give a few short paragraphs on rabbit disease a place in
our practical essay.”
Bedding.—“ Thus, the quality of the litter given to do-
mestic rabbits is a very essential point in rearing them
successfully. ‘The bad state of that is the cause of many
diseases to which they are lable. The straw used for
this purpose ought to be thoroughly dry, and frequently
renewed. Every three weeks, the entire mass of their
litter should be changed, especial care being taken to have
it done a fortnight before the doe kindles, and a fortnight
after the birth of the little ones. It is a good plan, during
the interval, to cover the old litter with a sprinkling of
fresh straw from time to time.”
Injudicious disturbance, also, will sometimes have as
fatal an effect as a severe epidemic. We have seen that
it is absolutely necessary not to be too much in a hurry to
look at the young ones, for at least a week after their
birth. It should also be remembered that the rabbit is
naturally an animal of nocturnal, or we ought rather to
say crepuscular, that is, twzlight habits. It 1s therefore
an error to believe that it is requisite to give them a sub-
stantial meal at noon; on the contrary, nature and obser-
vation indicate that they ought to be left in quiet at that
hour, when they are almost always in a state of repose,
especially during summer. ‘The best feeding-times are,
THE RABBIT. 81
very early indeed in the morning, and about sunset in the
evening. They usually eat with the greatest appetite
during the night.”
Quiet—However, one little act of disturbance may be
ventured upon with due precaution. A few days after
the birth of the rabbits, it will be advisable to ascertain
whether their mother has deposited them in a dry spot;
for if their nest is at all damp, they will infallibly perish.
In such a case, the nest must be cautiously moved, in a
lump, and shifted to the driest corner of the hutch. Ex-
perience has proved that this operation, if judiciously exe-
cuted, caused no injury whatever to the young, and also
gave no offence to the mother; but, after all, the expe-
dient must be used with caution. ‘The inconvenience
- which compels the rabbit-keeper to have recourse to it
ought to be avoided by cleansing the hutches at regular
periods, so that there shall be no necessity to intrude upon
the privacy of the doe’s nursery at the time when she is
likely to be of a susceptible and jealous disposition. For
this purpose, it 1s requisite to note accurately the date of
the doe’s visits to the buck, in order to be able to change
the litter in good time, and also to remove a first set of
young ones, when there is a prospect of their soon being
followed by a second.
Ophthalmia.—‘ Young are subject to a disease of the
eyes, which is apt to attack them towards the end of their
suckling, and which puts an end to them in a very short
time. ‘The disease is unknown to those who are scrupu-
lous about the cleanliness and drainage of their hutches.
It appears to be occasioned by the putrid exhalations from
filth snd urine in a decomposing state. In short, it is nel:
4*
82 DISEASES.
ther more nor less than ophthalmia, brought on by the
caustic nature of ammonial vapor. When the malady is
discovered in time, the young rabbits may sometimes be
saved by transferring them into another hutch that is per-
fectly clean, and well furnished with plenty of fresh
straw.”
The Rot and Pot-Belly.— The great cause of the short-
ness of rabbits’ lives in domesticity is their lability to the
rot, or liver-disease, produced by their being supplied with
too much green food. Dry food, in short, is the grand
thing to insure success in rabbit-keeping. ‘That peculiar
quality of diet is so absolutely necessary to the animals’
well-being, that ‘DRY FOOD,’ in capital letters, ought
to be painted within sight of every rabbit menagerie,
whatever may be its form, size, or importance. Even the
wild races, in wet seasons, are found lying about dead, as
if their warren had been stricken with pestilence. The
rot is as fatal to rabbits as to sheep. Therefore a very ne-
cessary precaution, which cannot be too strictly insisted
on, is to avoid giving tame rabbits too great a quantity of
ereen and succulent herbage, which not only causes nu-
merous deaths from indigestion, but what is worse, is apt
to bring on another disease, only of too common occur-
rence, which is occasioned by the accumulation of an ex-
cessive quantity of water in the abdomen and bladder,
and which usually proves fatal. The patient, in fact, be-
comes dropsical; and even if apparently cured for a time,
is so apt to suffer a relapse, that the wisest way is to part
with the animal. Rabbits so diseased are said to be ‘pot-
bellied > and when they get to an advanced stage of the
complaint, doctoring is of but little use, and generally of
THE RABBIT. 83
none at all. Common rabbits, in such case, are hardly worth
the trouble of nursing. For fancy kinds of greater value,
the attempt may be made; but we much more strongly
urge the observance of preventive than of remedial meas-
ures.
“The patients should be immediately put upon a drier
diet. Pamper them with split peas, barley-meal, malt-
combs, and oatmeal. Oak leaves, and the shoots of the
tree, as food, are excellent. They should have hay, sound
corn, and aromatic plants, such as thyme, sage, marjoram,
&c. In fact, all rabbit-masters who have a garden, will do
well to cultivate an extra-sized bed of sweet herbs, as the
best apothecary’s shop which they can have recourse to in
time of need. ‘The whole family of umbelliferous plants
- appear to be both grateful and medicinal to the rabbit
tribe; even hemlock and fool’s parsley, poisonous plants
to many other animals, are welcome as occasional dainties
to them; hog-weed, or the wild perennial parsnip, has
been recommended by Cobbett, with his usual force of
natural eloquence. Garden parsnips and carrots are ex-
cellent, both for their tops and roots;. likewise fennel,
parsley, and chervil.
“Tf the sick quadrupeds are kept to a regimen that is
absolutely dry, a little may now and then be given them;
at all other times, it is absolutely a forbidden thing. But
wetted herbage, we insist, even if only moistened with
dew, is poison to rabbits, The best mode of avoiding
danger is to cut their food the day before, and spread it
out, in the sunshine or under shelter, to dry and wither.
On the other hand, it ought not to be cut several days
beforehand ; for if thrown into a heap, and so left:to heat,
84 DISEASES.
it is likely to prove equally injurious. Of course, all dis-
eased individuals should be carefully separated from those
that are in health.
“The same prudential sanitary measure is imperative
when rabbits are attacked by a sort of consumption, or
‘rot, which reduces them to the extreme of leanness, and
they become covered with a contagious scabbiness, which
is extremely difficult to cure. This disease, which attacks
them when young, checks their growth, takes away their
appetite, and at last causes them to die in violent convul-
sions. If it is not arrested in time, it may soon spread
throughout the whole of the stud. It is usually attributed
to damp and superabundant moisture in various forms,
which seem to be mortal enemies of the rabbit. As pot-
belly, or dropsy, is caused by a too succulent vegetable
diet, so ‘rot’ is brought on by eating putrid greens, or
even those that are in the ‘heated’ state of incipient fer-
mentation. It is believed that the repeated indulgence in
this kind of unnatural and unwholesome food produces
the purulent pustules with which the unfortunate animal’s
liver is sometimes entirely covered, as well as engender-
ing, we know not how, the parasitic creatures called
flukes, or hydatids, that are found in the substance of the
diseased liver. The remedies, with the addition of salt,
are nearly the same both for ‘ pot-belly’ and ‘rot;’ in-
deed, it is not very easy to distinguish them till after a.
somewhat advanced period. Flour of sulphur, sprinkled
on the skin, has been recommended in case of mange or
scab. The wisest way, however, is to prevent the further
spreading of the contagious form of disease, by sacrificing
at once-the animal that is attacked by it.”
5
(o 2)
THE RABBIT.
Red Water.—Besides the former, there are a few mala-
dies which only make their appearance in badly-attended
and mismanaged studs, or during unusually fatal seasons ;
such as red water, produced by inflammation of the kid-
neys and a highly febrile state-of the animal. High-
colored urine is then voided, in its worst stage mingled
with blood. Bad food, acrid and poisonous vegetables, or
sudden chills, may either of them be the immediate cause
of the complaint. The remedy will be, mild mucilaginous
food, such as endive, dandelion, sow-thistle, lettuce (but
not after it sends up its seed-stalkx), with cooked potatoes
and bran, besides a warm and cleanly lodging.
The Snufiles— This is occasioned by catching a vio-
lent cold in the head, and may degenerate into bronchitis
. and inflammation of the lungs. Comfortable shelter, and
protection from all draughts and wet, is the cure which
common sense prescribes.”
Diarrhea, or undue looseness of the bowels, is the re-
sult of eating too great a quantity of wet and acrid rub-
bish. Dry food must be again the prescription ; add to it
bread-crusts and the skins of baked potatoes. To avoid
the evil, it should be particularly borne in mind that all
changes of diet with a confined animal, especially from a
drier to a moister—and in spring and autumn—should be
gradually raade. No stock of any kind, not even of tran-
sitions of regimen, ought ever to be given to the system
of so nervous a creature as the rabbit is.
fare Cases— Human pathology and surgery has its
chapter exclusively devoted to rare cases ; the same thing
occurs with fowls and with rabbits. One of these is fur-
nished by a correspondent of the Cottage Gardener :—
86 DISEASES. a
ae
‘On examining a rabbit of the lop-eared breed to-day, i
found one ear completely filled with a hard matter resem- : ,
bling scurf. On touching the ear, the rabbit screamed out. 3 :
I then took as much of the hard stuff off asI could, and
bathed with warm water; after that, I greased the ear
well. I took two pieces as large as a man’s finger from
the ear, which seemed to reach quite to the farthest ex-
tremity.’ Many others, no doubt, might be added; but
they are more valuable as curious facts, than as being of a
any great practical utility.” DELAMER. a
(ss)
Ba acai bk an ea hy
AMERICAN GRAY RABBIT.
AMERICAN GRAY RABBYIPE:
In the Natural History of the State of New York, by
Dr. De Kay, we find a full description and figure of the
native wild rabbit of this country, which we have copied
from that work.
This common and well-known species in the United
States has been, until very recently, confounded with oth-
ers. The following, by Schreber, which seems to have
_ been overlooked by modern writers, applies remarkably
well to our rabbit. Although misled by the accounts of
previous naturalists, he appears to have confounded its
history with the former species:—Cheeks full of thick
hair. Hars thin externally, with few hairs, naked within,
and when bent forward, do not reach the nose; when
bent backward, they reach the shoulder-blades. Eyes
large and black, with four to five bristles above them.
Whiskers mostly black; some are white; the longest ap-
pears to reach beyond the head. Color in summer :-—ears
brownish, with a very narrow black border on the outer
margin, of the same breadth of the tips, or becomes ef-
faced ; brown cheeks, back, and sides; fore and hind legs
light brown externally, mixed with black; all around the
breech white. Feet full of short hair, of a hght brown,
unmixed with black, changing towards the inside to a
gray white. Upper part of the tail like that of the back
(89)
90 AMERICAN GRAY RABBIT.
(perhaps mixed with black, as Pennant describes it black);
beneath, white. Throat white; lower part of the neck
bright brown, mixed with white; chest and belly, inside
of fore and hind legs, white color in winter, when it does
not change, white.
Its food consists of bark, grass, wild berries, &c.; and
in cultivated districts, it is said to enter gardens and de-
stroy vegetables. Unlike its congeners, it does not confine
itself to the woods, but is frequently found in open fields,
or where there is a slight copse or underbrush. It does
not burrow, like its closely allied species, the Huropean
rabbit, but makes its form, which is a slight depression in
the ground, sheltered by some low shrub. It frequently
resorts to a stone wall, or a heap of stones, or hollow tree
and sometimes to the burrow of some other animal. Its
habits are nocturnal; and they may often be seen in the
morning, or early part of the forenoon, although in retired
situations they have been seen at all times of the day. Its
flesh, though black and dry, is well flavored, although in
this respect it varies with the quality of its previous food.
It breeds in this State, as I have been informed, three
times in the season, producing from four to six at a birth,
It is the smallest of the species found in this State, and so
much resembles in its form the European rabbit, that the
same popular name has been applied to it, although differ-
ing in color and some of its habits. This, however, is of
no consequence, for the name of American Gray Rabbit
is sufficiently distinctive.
It has a wide geographical range. It is found from
New Hampshire to Florida, but its Western limits are not
yet established.
THE NORTHERN VARYING HARE,
: : i
a
tl
THE RABBIT. 93
The author has noticed this rabbit on Staten Island, on
Becroft’s Mountain, east of the city of Hudson, on the
pine plains west. of Albany, and also on the high-lands
and plains of Saratoga
THE aoe VARYING HARE.
“Au the species of the genus Lepus hitherto discov-
ered in America,” remarks the editor of the Cabinet of
Natural History, “have the habits of the Hare, though
they are generally called Rabbits.” We will at present
confine our observations to the subject of our illustration,
which has given rise to some diversity of opinion among
naturalists, though it has long been known to hunters and
fur-traders as different from the common species.
As was the case with almost all the American animals
resembling those of the old continent, early naturalists
considered it as identical with the analogous Huropean
species. The first description given of it in any detail is
by Hearne. “The varying hares are numerous, and ex-
tend as far as latitude 72° N., and probably farther. They
delight most in rocky and stony places, near the borders
of woods, though many of them brave the coldest winters
on entirely barren ground. In summer, they are nearly
of the color of the English wild rabbit, but in winter assume
a most delicate white all over, except the tips of the ears,
which are black. They are, when full grown and in good
condition, very large, many of them weighing fourteen
or fifteen pounds.”
The dimensions of this species, on the authority of
94. THE NORTHERN VARYING HARE.
Bachman, vary from seventeen to twenty-five inches, It
is remarkable how two observers have so widely differed
in their accounts of the dimensions of the same specimens.
Bonaparte gives the total length at thirty-one inches;
Harlan’s measurement of the same specimen makes it but
sixteen inches. These statements may be reconciled,
when we recollect that the latter measured from the speci-
men when recent, and probably represented the distance
from the nose to the extremity of the hind legs.
The American Varying Hare appears to inhabit a great
portion of North America, as it has been found in Vir-
ginia, and as far North as 55°. It appears generally to
frequent plains and low grounds, where it lives like the
common hare, never burrowing, but does not resort to the
thick woods. The variabilis of Europe, on the contrary,
is described as always inhabiting the highest mountains,
and never descending into the plains, except when forced
to seek food, when the mountains are covered with snow.
The American Hare is remarkably swift, never taking
shelter when pursued, and is capable of taking astonishing
leaps: Captain Lewis measured some of these, and found
their length from eighteen to twenty-one feet. Warden,
however, states that this species, when pursued, will re-
treat into hollow trees.
They, like all the hares, are very prolific, the female
having several litters a year, of five or six leverets at a
litter.
The voice of these animals is seldom or never heard,
except when they are irritated or wounded, when they
utter a loud, piercing ery, bearing some resemblance to
that of a child in pain. We have been informed by an
pl TT. te) ai ee ieee
THE RABBIT. 95
eye-witness, that he saw an European buck rabbit attack
acat, and rip open its bowels by a single stroke of its
hind claws.
One of the most remarkable peculiarities of this genus
is the difference of habits between some of the species,
closely allied as they are in their physical appearance.
Thus, the rabbit and the hare, although furnished with
analogous organs, and inhabiting in many instances the
same countries, manifest the greatest aversion for each
other—a hatred which M. F. Cuvier asserts nothing can
obliterate; for, however nearly they assimilated in form or
character, they never associate; and, when they meet, a
combat generally ensues, which often termmates fatally to
one of the parties. |
One striking point of dissimilarity between the hare
and rabbit is, that whilst the hare merely forms a shallow
hollow in the earth for her form or nest, the rabbit
excavates deep and tortuous burrows.
If taken young, the hare may be tamed and domesti-
eated, and has been nursed by a cat. Sonnini, the natu-
ralist, and Cowper, the poet, had hares in a complete state
of domestication. Although exceedingly timid and watch-
ful, the hare is capable of being domesticated, and even
taught a variety of tricks.
One was exhibited in London, some time since, which
could play on the tamborine, discharge a pistol, and per-
form a variety of feats of as strange a character for an
animal of so fearful disposition,
COOKING RABBITS.
HAVING in the foregoing pages given all the informa-
tlon we possess in regard to the selecting, breeding, and
general management of the rabbit, we will now proceed
to give a few recipes for cooking the same.
Boiled Rabbit, smothered with Onion Sauce-—They must
be skewered and trussed, so as to come to table in a crouch-
ing posture. Dust it with flour, as you would a boiled
chicken, to make it come out the whiter. Tie it in a
cloth ; if young, put it into boiling-hot water; if old, into
cold water. The time of boiling must be entirely regu-
lated by the apparent age and tenderness of the rabbit.
N. B.—Tomato instead of onion sauce is a much approved
variation of this dish.
While the rabbit is boiling, prepare your onion sauce
thus :—Peel your onions, halve and quarter them, put
them on in a sauce-pau in cold water, boil till perfectly
soft, strain them from the water, and then braid them
through a colander. To the pulp thus made add a lump
of butter and some thick cream, with a little pepper and
salt. Then make it just boil up, being careful that it
does not burn, and pour it over the rabbit as it lies on its
dish. Serve at the same time a piece of boiled white
bacon to eat with it, and a tureen of melted butter,
? (96)
2 rh SN Ran il pect eS we
cts ee Se EE
THE RABBIT. 97
Roast Rabbit.—A genuine Warren Ieecipe—Make a
force-meat of bread-crumbs, minced beef-suet, lemon-peel,
nutmeg, pepper and salt, and a little lemon-thyme, if
sweet herbs are approved. Beat up two eggs, and mix
with them, the whole into paste. Put this force-meat
inside the rabbit, and sew it up, and skewer it into the
proper form. Rub the outside of the rabbit over with
butter, flour it a little, and stick on very thin slices of
bacon by means of small skewers of iron wire. A French
cook would lard them with a larding-needle. These slices
of bacon will roast up till they are become quite crisp and
dry; the fat which oozes from them will keep the rabbit
moist and juicy. Still, it ought to be well basted while
roasting. Make a gravy with a small piece of beef (or
the livers of rabbits, if they are not roasted inside), a
whole onion put in without peeling it, some whole pepper-
corns, a blade of mace, and a clove or two, with a small
crust of bread toasted very dry and brown, but not burnt.
When the gravy is boiled enough, strain it, and a little
catsup and flour well braided together. Make the gravy
just boil up (not for a minute or two), before serving with
the roast rabbit, in a separate tureen by itself. Some add
a glass of port wine to the gravy.
Stewed fabbit.—Cut the rabbits into joints. Half fry
them into butter, and lay them into a stew-pan. Fry some
sliced onions, and put them over the rabbit in the stew-
pan, with a little powdered mace, pepper, and salt. Pour
sufficient water over them to cover them, allowing for the
waste by evaporation during cooking. The stew must be
done very slowly, only being allowed just to simmer. It
5
98 COOKING RABBITS.
will take two hours to do it properly; when enough, take
out each piece of rabbit and lay it on the dish on which it
is to be served; with the gravy which remains in the stew-
pan mix a pickled walnut finely and smoothly braided,
with a good tablespoonful of catsup and a dust of flour.
Set it over the fire, and pour it over your rabbit directly
that it shows symptoms of boiling up.
Rabbit Pie.—Cut the rabbits into joints, and simply stew
them with water, pepper, salt, and pounded mace, till
they are half done. Proceed then as for pigeon pie, put-
ting veal or pork, or both, instead of the beef. Cover with
paste, and bake till enough.
To Curry Rablits—Take a young rabbit or two, skin and
cut them into conyeniently-sized pieces to serve, put them
into a frying-pan with some butter, and fry them of a nice
light brown color; then place them at the bottom of your
stew-pan.
Slice and fry six or eight large onions; place them over
the rabbit in the stew-pan. Then mix four tablespoonsful
of best curry-powder and some good stock gravy (which
is a great point in insuring success), with salt, Cayenne
pepper, nutmeg, three or four slices of lemon with the peel
on, a small quantity of chopped pickles of all kinds that
are at hand, and a glass of sherry.
Boil well, and-pour it over the rabbit and onions in the
stew-pan; let all simmer together for three hours; serve it
up in a dish encircled with rice that has been boiled in the
following manner: Put the rice in cold water, and when
it boils let it boil exactly sixteen minutes afterwards. The
iar" > ‘
——.* ~
:
7
4
?
THE RABBIT. 99
seventeenth minute would spoil it utterly. It is as with the
charmed bullets of Zamial, “The six(-teenth) shall achieve,
the seven(-teenth) deceive.”
FRENCH WAYS OF COOKING
RABSITS.
Marinade of Rabbit—The French have the habit of
steeping or pickling many viands, especially white meats
and fresh-water fish, in what they call marinade, or pickle,
cf varlous compositions.
If you are going to make use of a tame rabbit, hulk it
as soon as it is killed, and stuff the inside with thyme,
bay-leaves, sage, basil, pepper, and salt. Roast it till it is
half done, and let it get cold. Cut it into joints, and put
them into a marinade composed of white wine (or cider),
lemon-juice, and parsley, shallots, thyme, bay-leaves, and
a clove of garlic, all chopped up fine together. After they
have soaked an hour, dip them in butter, and fry them in
oil or butter which is not too hot. Fry them to a bright
clear brown, and serve them dry, garnished with fried
parsley.
Gibbelotte is the name of a particular mode of stew or
fricassee, in which various meats and poultry may be
served. Gibbelotte of rabbit (which is the original gzbelotte)
is thus made: Cut a rabbit into joints. Puta lump of
butter into a stew-pan, and some lean bacon cut into slices.
When they are browned take them out, and put your rab-
_ bitin. As soon as it has had a toss or two, add a spoon-
100 COOKING RABBITS.
ful of flour, a glass of white wine, and a glass of good
broth, a little pepper and nutmeg, a dozen small onions, a
few button mushrooms, or instead of them a dessert spoon-
ful of mushroom catsup, and a bunch of sweet herbs.
When the rabbit is done enough, take the fat off the
gravy; thicken it if required, so that it be -neither too
thick nor too thin; pour it over the rabbit, and serve
garnished, either with pieces of toast or of fried bread
round the dish.
It is not an wncommon practice with French cooks to
add an eel or two cut into short pieces, when this and similar
dishes are half cooked, and then to serve the whole together.
Civet is the French name appropriated to a dish of stewed
hare; but rabbits are commonly dressed in the same way,
when hares are out of season.
Civet of Rabbit is made by cutting it into joints, putting
it into a stew-pan, and giving it two or three turns on the
fire. Then add a dusting of flour, a liberal allowance of
red-wine, salt, pepper, and a few slices of bacon. Throw
in some small onions that have been fried whole in butter,
with a bouquet of sweet herbs. Make it boil up and skim
off the fat. As soon as it is done cnough, take away the
bouquet, and serve hot. N. B.—But a small quantity of
the gravy should come to table.
Rabbit Paté—A very useful standing dish may be made
of any size, the larger the better.
Have ready your rabbits; cut them up into joints; have,
also, an earthen or stoneware paté-dish with a close-fitting
5
3
5
}
THE RABBIT. 101
cover. This kind of paté is made without any crust. At
_ the bottom of the dish lay slices of bacon, and over that a
layer of minced meat, of any kind you happen to have at
hand, mixed with chopped parsley, chives, a large clove
of garlic, mushrooms, and pepper. Upon this bed lay the
whole of your rabbits, as closely as you can pack the
pieces, and then the remainder of your mince-meat, and
some more slices of bacon to cover the whole. Shake it
well together. Throw in a glass or two of white wine,
put the cover on the dish, and set it in the oven till it is
done enough. It must not be touched to be eaten until it
is cold.
En papillottes, or in curl-papers, is a favorite French way
of serving small portions of meat, such as joints of poultry
and game, chops, cutlets, &c.
For rabbits in curl-papers, cut them into quarters if
they are very young, and into joints if they are full-grown;
marinade, or pickle them, several hours in a mixture of
oil, salt, pepper, catsup, and chopped parsley and chives,
well mingled together. Have ready some oiled or buttered
white writing paper, prepared exactly as for cutlets en pa-
pullotes; do up each piece of rabbit with a litle of the
seasoning and a thin slice of bacon enclosed in the paper;
grill them on a gridiron over a very slow fire, and when
they are thoroughly done serve them smoking hot in the
paper, just as they are.
END.
l
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