180 Practical Game Preserving. 



grass be destroyed. Some sandy soils are very thin, and 

 often lie upon a foundation unsuitable or distasteful to 

 rabbits, and consequently the burrows are only formed to 

 the depth of the sand ; it will therefore be necessary under 

 such conditions to confine the ramifications to prescribed 

 limits of ground. The same holds good, also, to some 

 extent with old burrows, which, according to our experience, 

 are best confined to certain ends or corners of the warren, 

 the rabbits, in that case, being obliged to advance further 

 out as their demand for food increases. It will always be 

 found that rabbits which are compelled to move some dis- 

 tance out from their burrows to feed will be in better all- 

 round condition than those with a superfluity of provender 

 within easy reach. 



We now come to the question, what description of land 

 is best suited to the establishment of large quantities of 

 rabbits upon it, and whether all kinds of soil are applicable 

 to the purpose ? There is no soil, except clay or soil of 

 a clayey nature, which is not capable of being employed 

 for rabbit warrens ; but there are undoubtedly many soils 

 which are to be preferred to others. In general, however, 

 land of a sandy or gravelly nature is as good as can be 

 desired. When we say sandy soil, we do not mean sand 

 pure and simple, such as is only capable of producing here 

 and there a few blades of rank, useless grass far from it ; 

 we allude to one of similar nature to that which has half- 

 formed granite for its foundation, such as exists in great 

 part throughout Scotland and many other mountainous or 

 hilly districts. Red soil lying upon the red sandstone is 

 suitable ; chalk will also do, provided it bears grass in 



