1022 PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. Part III. 



589. The suet of the goat is also in great esteem, and many of the inhabitants of Caernarvonshire kill 

 them merely for the sake of their fat, which makes candles of a superior quality to the common. Of their 

 horns excellent handles are made for tucks and pen-knivcs. The skin is peculiarly well adapted for the 

 glove manufactory, especially that of the kid ; as it takes a dye better than any other skin. The old skin 

 is also of great use, being preferred to that of the sheep, and the flesh affords a cheap and plentiful pro- 

 vision in the winter months, particularly when the kids are brought to market. The haunches of the goat 

 are frequently salted and dried, and supply all the uses of bacon : this by the Welsh is called coch yr wdcn, 

 or hung venison. 



G590. The kind of goats for keeping to advantage should be chosen in this manner: the male should 

 have a large body, his hair should be long, and his legs straight and stiff; the neck should be i)lain and 

 short, the head small and slender, the horns large, the eyes prominent, and the beard long. The female 

 should have a large udder, with large teats, and no horns, or very small ones. Goats should be kept in 

 flocks, that they may not straggle ; and they should have good shelter both in summer and in winter, th 

 heat and cold being both prejudicial to them, and coupled in December. They should have no litter in 

 winter, but only a paved floor kept clean. The kids are to be brought up for the table in the same manner 

 as our lambs are. 



6591. The rabbit (Lqms cuniculus, L., fig. 693.), is indigenous in most temperate 

 climates, but not so far to the north as the hare. In a ggq 



wild state it forms long-vi^inding burrows; keeps its 

 hole by day ; feeds morning, evening, and night on 

 vegetables and grain ; is the pi-ey of hawks, badgers, 

 polecats, and caught by ferrets ; gravid tliirty days, 

 brings from four to eight young seven times a year. 



The varieties common in Britain are the white, black, -.<.=,=_,^ 



variegated, and silvery grey. The hare and rabbit are ^^^^^'*'=^__^^UH^^^^^^^^^~' 

 distinguished from each other externally, chiefly by the proportional length of the hind 

 legs to that of the back, and in the ears of the hare being longer, and those of the rabbit 

 shorter than the head. The haunts of rabbits are called warrens ; which are most nume- 

 rous in the sandy soils of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. They sometimes extend to 2000 

 or 3000 acres, and many have been hitherto considered to pay better in that state than in 

 any other. Arthur Young, however, has shovirn in his Survei/ of Lincolnshire, that though a 

 rabbit-warren may afford a high interest on the capital of the occupier, yet the rent it 

 affords to the owner of the soil is less than would ultimately be obtained by planting or 

 breaking up, and laying down with chiccory or some other suitable herbage plant. In 

 the meantime, as they continue to exist, and are subjected to a kind of management, 

 we shall submit a short outline of it under the heads of extent, soil and situation, fenc- 

 ing, stocking, breeding, rearing, and produce. Afterwards we shall take a view of the 

 mode of managing rabbits in hutches. 



6592. The extent of warrens varies from 100 to 3000 acres, but a convenient size is 

 considered to be 1500 or 2000 acres. The soil and situation should be dry, sandy, warm, 

 and poor; rich grass or herbage being found to produce a scouring, which sometimes car- 

 ries off" the greater part of the stock. Warrens are generally inclosed with walls either 

 of stone or turf, an essential addition to the latter being a coping of furze, reeds, or stiff 

 straw. Paling is used in some places, but a brook is found insufficient, as the rabbits 

 bave been found to swim across. 



6593. Warrens are often stocked by nature, and all that art has to do in that case is to 

 protect the produce ; but in some cases they are formed on ground where rabbits do not 

 exist naturally, or where they exist it is considered desirable to change the breed. 



6594. In stocking a warren, whether the surface be flat or hilly, artificial burrows are sometimes made, 

 to reconcile the rabbits to the ground, and to presei-ve them from vermin, until they have time to make 

 their own burrows. These are bored with an auger of a diameter large enough to make a burrow of a suf- 

 ficient width. In a level warren, these augers may, from time to time, be found useful in forming such 

 holes. They, however, in most cases, are capable of making burrows for themselves. Some warren lands 

 are stocked in the proportion of three couple to an acre ; while in others it is in a considerably larger 

 proportion. In Lincolnshire, one buck or male rabbit is said to be sufficient for one hundred does, or 

 females ; but this is certainly a much larger proportion, than in most other districts. On the wold war- 

 rens of Yorkshire, according to Marshal, one male is considered sufficient for only six or seven females, 

 and the nearer they can be brought to that proportion the greater the stock of young ones that may be 

 expected, it being the nature or economy of the males to destroy their young, especially when the projior- 

 tional number is too great. 



6595. The varieties employed as stock for warrens are the common grey and silver grey breeds. The 

 former of which is found to be considerably more hardy and much better for the purposes of food; but 

 the latter has greatly the advantage in the value of the skin. Till lately the common grey rabbit, proba- 

 bly the native wild rabbit of the island, was the only species. At present, the silver-haired rabbit is 

 sought after, and has, within the last few years, been introduced into most warrens. The skin of the grey 

 rabbit is cut ; that is, the wool is pared of!" the pelt, as a material of hats : whereas, that of the silver- 

 haired rabbit is dressed as fur ; which, it is said, goes principally to the East Indies. The color is a black 

 ground, thickly interspersed with single white hairs. The skins of this variety sell for about four shil- 

 fings a dozen more than those of the common sort ; a sufficient inducement for propagating it in preference 

 to the grey breed. 



6596. The rabbit begins to breed at an early age, as at eight, ten, or twelve months, going only about 

 thirty days with young, the young being little more than three weeks old before they appear from the 

 burrows, during which time they are suckled twice in the day by the mother. It is therefore evident, 

 that they may breed three or four times in the course of the year under good keep, as the does take the 

 buck almost immediately after producing their young. In warrens that are inclosed, it is, however, said 

 that they seldom breed more than two or three times in the year. 



6597. The tnanagement of a rabbit warren is a very simple business. Birds and beasts of prey are to be 

 kept off by taking them in traps ; dogs and cats kept off, and rats, moles, mice, and other vermin destroyed 

 if abundant or troublesome. Man himself is to be guarded against in some situations. Additional food 

 is to be supplied in the winter season, when the weather is severe, such as fine green hay, f^aintfoin, clover 



