HAMES. 



HARROW. 



is only 3s. 5d. per cwt. Although dried hams 

 pay a duty of 14s., those shipped in pickle pass 

 the English Custom House at the pork duty of 

 8s. per cwt. As a set off, however, against the 

 6s. saved in duty, it must be observed that pork 

 cured in pickle is of inferior quality to that 

 cured in dry salt, and will not bring an equal 

 price. It is also shipped in that form at an in- 

 creased cost of packages and freight, and pays 

 a duty on a greater weight than when dried. 

 See S\vi VK. 



HAMES. The iron or wooden harness by 

 which draught-horses are attached to the carts, 

 &c. 



HAND. The measure of the fist when 

 clenched; it is equal to four inches. The 

 height of horses is computed in this way. A 

 horse 15 hands high stands five feet at the 

 shoulders. 



HARE (Lepus timulus). The hare is natu- 

 rally a timid animal, and extremely swift in 

 motion when pursued by dogs. Hares are 

 dispersed over almost every climate, and con- 

 sequently the varieties are extremely numerous : 

 and the sizes, forms, and habits, adapted to the 

 physical wants of the family, greatly multiplies 

 their diversities. Although hunted in all coun- 

 tries, being prolific in the extreme, their spe- 

 cies does not apparently diminish in number. 

 They begin to breed in the first year, and the 

 female generally produces four or five leverets, 

 after a gestation of about 31 or 32 days ; and 

 she is supposed to breed four or five times in 

 the year. Unlike d^ps, the eyes of these ani- 

 mals are open at their birth ; and after being 

 suckled for about three weeks, they are aban- 

 doned to their fate. Hares in a state of nature 

 are believed to live from 9 to 12 years. The 

 hare is known to have been a favourite object 

 of the chace more than 2000 years ago. 



Two or three species of the hare genus are 

 natives of the United States. The common 

 American rabbit, found all over the country, 

 is the Lepus Jlmcricanus and Lepus Hudsonius 

 of naturalists. It is smaller than the English 

 hare, and even less than the European rabbit. 

 In dry places it often burrows in the earth, and 

 is very prolific, bringing forth 3 or 4 times a 

 year from 5 to 10 at a time. It carries its 

 young about 6 weeks. In the domestic state 

 the male rabbit will often destroy the young. 



A second American species is the Varying 

 Hare, the Lepus Firgiamanus or Lepus varia- 

 bilis of naturalists. This inhabits the Southern 

 and Middle States, and most probably as far 

 north as New England. Its colour is grayish- 

 brown in summer, and white in winter; the 

 rbits of the eyes are at all times surrounded 

 oy a reddish fawn-colour; tail very short. The 

 largest of this species are about 18 inches, 

 l Ml i pii^th. and weigh from 7 to 8 Ibs. These 



animals never burrow, but frequent meadows, 

 &c., near the basF of mountains, and when 

 pursued retreat into hollow trees. They bring 

 forth several times a year, 3 or 4 at a birth, 

 after a gestation of about 30 days. 



In the extreme northerly parts of the conti- 

 nent, Captains Parry, Sabine, and other tra- 

 vellers, describe another American species 

 under the name of Lepus glacialis, which is 

 somewhat larger than the varying rabbit, being 

 602 



2 feet 4 inches from the end of the nose to the 

 arms, the average weight being 8 Ibs. The ear? 

 are longer in proportion than those of the com- 

 mon hare, and especially those, of the varying 

 rabbit. The fur is exceedingly thick and 

 woolly, of the purest white in the spring and 

 autumn, excepting a tuft of long black hair at 

 the tip of the ears, which is reddish-brown at 

 the base. The whiskers are also black at the 

 base for one-half their length. In the summer 

 the back and sides become a little grayish, the 

 fur beneath still remaining white. The lepus 

 glacialis, or hare of the icy regions, inhabits 

 the Arctic circle, Greenland (where it remains 

 entirely white even in summer). The food 

 consists chiefly of tender herbs gathered from 

 ravines. (Fauna Americana.} 



HARIFF, Goose-Grass, Cliders, Cleavers, or 

 Catchweed (Galium aparine). PI. 10, h. This 

 is an annual plant, with a fibrous root, growing 

 in hedges almost everywhere. It is found wild 

 even in Nepal. The flowers are small, pale, 

 and buff-coloured, few together, on lateral 

 leafy stalks, and blowing from May to August. 

 The root is fibrous. The stem branched, brit- 

 tle, supporting itself upon other plants ; often 

 three or four feet long ; the four angles beset 

 with hooked prickles, which are also abundant 

 on the edges and keels of the leaves, by all 

 which the herb sticks to the hands and clothes 

 of those who touch it, as well as to the coats 

 of animals, as do likewise the seeds. The 

 fruit is a double globe, beset with minute, short 

 hooks. The expressed juice of the herb is 

 reckoned anti-scorbutic ; but this is doubtful, 

 as well as some imaginary virtues in cancer 

 which have been attributed to it. The roasted 

 seeds are said to be no bad substitute for coffee, 

 to which they are botanically related. 



Three-flowered goose-grass is one of the 

 names of the rough-fruited common bed straw. 

 (G. tricorne}. 



HARRIERS. A breed of dogs kept princi- 

 pally for hunting the hare. There are three 

 prominent varieties of the harrier, the old 

 southern hound, the modern harrier, and the 

 beagle. Subordinate divisions occur, and a 

 cross breed is used in hunting the otter. The 

 modern harrier is little more than a dwarf fox- 

 hound. The size and form of the harrier, like 

 those of the fox-hound, should be adapted to 

 the nature of the country hunted over. Some 

 sportsmen have a penchant for packs of under- 

 sized harriers; and a gentleman of the name 

 of Harding used to hunt the open grounds 

 about Dorchester with about 17 couple, which 

 were not more than 16 or 17 inches high. 

 (Jttqinc's Rural Sports, p. 404.) 



HARROW. For the chief portion of the 

 following article, I am indebted to the Messrs. 

 Ransome, the celebrated agricultural imple- 

 ment makers of Ipswich ; than whom no per- 

 sons can be better acquainted with the con- 

 struction and uses of different machines and 

 implements for agricultural purposes. This 

 instrument succeeds to the plough in the natu- 

 ral order of description, and in the uses to 

 which it is applicable. Its purpose is to pul- 

 verize the ground which has been moved by 

 the plough, to disengage from it the weeds and 

 roots which it may contain, ^r to cover the 



