4 Q PET RABBITS, CAVIES, AND MICE. 



patience and perseverence the breeder is sure to be suc- 

 cessful. Start wrong, and failure and disgust will soon 

 follow For this failure many who meet with it have 

 only themselves to blame. The first attractive advertise- 

 ment they read, of Mr. This or Mr. That offering does 

 mated to champion sires at IDS. each decides their course 

 of action. " Those are the sort. We shall soon breed 

 winners," they say. But do they? In selecting breed- 

 ing Dutch of whatever sub-division, make sure you get 

 shape and pure colour to start with. A Dutch rabbit 

 is cobby in shape, with short neat ears, and with eyes 

 free from spots, and the iris matching the colour of the 

 darker fur on the body, as near as may be. To anyone 

 having preferences in the matter of colour, the Dutch 

 rabbit affords a wide selection. There are blacks, blues, 

 tortoiseshells, greys (steel and light), blue fawns, fawns 

 or yellows, blue greys, etc. The best thing a 

 breeder can do who desires to breed winners is to 

 select one colour and stick to it. Many fanciers fail in 

 Dutch breeding because they dabble in too many 

 colours. The markings of a Dutch rabbit are uniform 

 in all the colours. The Dutch Club standard lays the 

 greatest stress upon face and stops. These score 30 

 points out of a possible 100. What is asked for is, first, 

 a good blaze and even cheek markings. It must be 

 explained that the ground colour of a Dutch rabbit is 

 considered to be white, although in reality it is about 

 half white and half coloured. The cheeks should be 

 even, and the blaze (or white of wedge shape run up 

 between); ears of the darker fur, and neat. The saddle 

 is the line at which the coloured fur on the back part 

 of the body joins the white. This should be even. 

 The "cut" is the junction line of white and coloured 

 fur on the belly, and the stops are the white portions 

 of the hind feet and legs. These should be about ij 

 inches long, of white fur, and join the dark fur evenly 

 all round. The cheek marks should be quite clear of the 

 long hairs at the nose, called the smellers, but should 

 not be cut too high up. Ears short and very neat. 

 This is a general description. Whatever colour is 

 selected, the dark fur should be as clear and pure as 

 possible, and quite free from white. This variety gives 

 rise to some cheating. Trimming, or fur extraction, is 

 resorted to to secure evenness of marking, but the 



