Quality of the Flesh. 217 



mals. Some fatten with grains and pol- 

 lard. I have tried all wheat, and all 

 potatoe oats, comparatively ; but could 

 fmd no diiFerence in the goodness of the 

 flesh. The rabbit's flesh being dry, the 

 allowance of succulent greens may tend to 

 render it more juicy ; and I suppose the 

 old complaint of the dryness of the flesh in 

 Devon beef, entirely fed with hay, might 

 be remedied in the same way. Rabbits 

 are in perfection for feeding at ihe fourth 

 or SIXTH month; beyond which period, 

 their flesh becomes more dry and somewhat 

 hard. It requires three months, or nearly 

 so, to make the rabbit thoroughly fat and 

 ripe ; half the time may make them eatable, 

 but by no means equal in the quality of the 

 flesh. They may yet be over fattened, as 

 appears by specimens exhibited a few years 

 since, at Lord Somerville's show, which 

 were loaded with fat, without and withhi, 

 like the best feeding sheep. 



The flesh of the rabbit is esteemed 

 equally digestible as that of fowls, and 



