THE WILD RABBET. 



a Rabbet is worth twice the whole value of the 

 carcass. Therefore,, supposing the Rabbet to con- 

 sume a quantity of food in proportion to the size 

 of its body, it is, on the principle offered, a species 

 of stock nearly three times as valuable as either 

 cattle or sheep *." Rabbets are, moreover, a kind 

 of stock that make the finest possible turf; for they 

 not only bite closer than the larger quadrupeds, 

 but they allow no bents to rise. It is from this 

 circumstance, that the most delicate turf for gar- 

 dens is that taken from Rabbet warrens. 



A rich soil should not, however, be stocked with 

 Rabbets, since a flush of grass, after a dry season, 

 is found to throw them into a scouring, which 

 sometimes carries off vast numbers. Warren farms 

 also are occasionally liable to -great losses, from an 

 epidemical disorder among the animals. The 

 spring and autumn of 1798 were so favourable to 

 the breeding of Rabbets, that the warrens, in all 

 parts, were supposed never to have been more 

 plentifully stocked; but great numbers of the 

 young ones perished, from a disorder supposed to 

 be produced by the continued wet in the autumn. 

 It was infectious, and the first symptom of it was' 

 a swelling in the glands of the neck; the rot 

 ensued, and death soon followed. 



Marshall's Rural Economy of Yorkshire, ii. p, 223. 



Y4 In 



