138 



THE GENESEE PARMER 



hollow part ouiward. A rabbit that carries its 

 ears in this manner, is not allowed to be a fan- 

 cy animal, being worth hut very little more 

 than a common one. The next, and in fact, 

 the most general position of the ears, is the 

 lialflop. One of the ears lops outward, and 

 (lie other remains upright. Sometimes the 

 oar which lops falls close to the cheek ; in this 

 case, the other, instead of being nearly hori- 

 zontal, is drawn over by the weight of the lop- 

 ped eir, and when the animal is in a stato of 

 • est, rather inclines to the same side of the 

 head as the ear that lops. Rabbits of this 

 description, however beautiful in shape, and 

 fine in color, are not considered valuable ; but 

 thev are in general well bred, and often throw 

 first rate rabbits. 



Were all the young rabbits which are bred 

 from fancy animals to be reared, one half of i 

 them at least, would carry one ear upright ; a 

 quarter of them would be entirely up-eared, 

 and the rest would be oar lopped or horn lop 

 ped ; and occasionally a perfect fancy fall of 

 both ears would occur. 



THK HORN IOP, 



which is one degree nearer perfection than the 

 half lop, is when the ears fall downward, and 

 project forward in front of the head.like horns. 

 it is frequently the case, that rabbits with this 

 property are more perfect in other respects 

 than any others ; and it is also common for 

 them to occasional ly raise one ear. The vari- 

 ety, however, more frequently degenerates in- 

 •o the 



OAR, LOP. 



The ears, in this variety of the lop, spread 

 out horizontally from the side of the head like 

 a pair of oars from a boat. A great many very 

 excellent does are more or less oar lopped, and 

 the best bred bucks in the fancy are generally 

 antirely so. A rabbit frequently carries one 

 ear in a correct position, while the other is 

 raised sufficiently to constitute it an oar-lop. 

 This, though by no means a capital carriage of 

 the ears, is superior to all others, except the 

 perfect fall ; and rabbits whose oars both drop 

 handsomely over the cheek are so rare, that 

 those which are only oar lopped are valuable 

 animals, if all their other properties are curs 

 rect. We now come to the 



REAL FANCY I.OP. 



The ears of the real lop fall from the roots 

 down bv the side of the cheek, slanting a lit- 

 tle outward in their descent, with their hollow 

 oarts inward, outward, and a little forward, or 

 partly backward ; and their tips touching the 

 ground, when the animal holds its head in the 

 usual position. 



For a first rate fancy lop, the hollows 

 of the ears should be turned so completely 

 backward, that the outer, or convex part of 

 them may only appear in front ; they should 

 match perfectly in their fall, and the less they 

 start outward in their descent from the roots, 

 the more handsome they are considered. — 

 These perfect lops are so rare, that a breeder 

 ivith a stock of twenty does, of superior blood 

 and beautv, and all of them nearly or quite 

 perfect, may think himself very lucky, if they 

 produce a dozen first rate lops in a season. 



Fine bodied young rabbits are frequently 

 racrificed, because they are up-oared, white o- 

 thers are roared with scarcely one half tho sub 

 -■tance, and perhaps inferior in color, because 

 their ears both fall. 



Young rabbits seldom lop their ears until 

 they aro separated from the doe. It is best to 

 put theru at first in an open hatch for half an 

 hour, so that they may be tempted to look over 

 !he edge of the bottom, toward the ground; 

 this will make their ears drop. It frequently 

 jappens that a very promising rabbit, at two 

 months old, whose ears lop perfectly, will raise 

 mo of them when he attains double that age ; 

 and others again, lop only one ear, until they 

 aro three parts grown, when the other falls, so 

 .is to ronder them a perfect match. 



Tho color of a rabbit is of great importance. 

 Cirey is the worst of all colors ; black is- the 



May 7. 1831. 



next ; fawn, fawn and while and grey, are the 

 next; pure white, with red eyes, is consider 

 ed by many as superior to the last ; but tor- 

 toise shell and moose color, are the most ad- 

 mired by the fanciers. 



In my next, I will enlarge upon the Rahbil - 

 ry and Hatches, Feeding, Breeding, Diseases, 

 nid General Directions. « # * * 



SELECTIONS. 



FARMER S UORK FOR MAY. 



The proper time for planting Indian corn 

 will soon arrive, according to the ordinary 

 course of the seasons, and we shall, therefore', 

 state some of the methods pursued by judi- 

 cious and successful farmers for raisin" this ve- 

 rv valuable product. 



Judge Buel. of Albany, says, "If the soil is 

 stiff or ihe sward stubborn, plough late in the 

 fall, and harrow in the spring before you plant. 

 If a sand or light loam, leave the grass to 

 grow till near planting time. In either case 

 the roller may be used to advantage. It com- 

 presses the sod, smothers the growth of grass, 

 and prevents the escape of the gases evolved 

 in the fermentation of the vegetable matter 

 buried by the plough. If you hove manure to 

 spare, (and you can use it no where better 

 than with this crop,) spread it on the sod, and 

 plough it under. Plant your corn in hills.— 

 The distance will depend on the kind of seed 

 and strength of the ground. I plant at three 

 feet each way. Harrow at the first dress 

 ing, the more the belter, provided you do not 

 disturb the sod ; and plough shallow and earth 

 slightly at the second. But exterminate all 

 weeds. By leaving the sod unbroken, the 

 roots of the grain have a better supply of 

 moisture and nutriment beneath it. » * • 



''I am satisfied from several years' experi- 

 ence, that other things being alike, the clover 

 sod, ploughed under in May, will give a ma 

 tenal increase of corn, overland which has no 

 sod. I think 20 per cent on an average, and 

 the crop is much less liable to be injured by 

 drought. The planting should be as early as 

 the season and soil will admit. 



" Failures and great inconvenience and loss 

 often result from the seed not vegetated, from 

 its destruction by the wire worm and grub, and 

 from the dopredations committed upon the 

 young plants by birds and squirrels. As I have 

 never suffered in either of these respects, I 

 will state my method of preparing the seed — 

 I collect in the first place a quantity of the 

 roots of the black helebore.or itch weed, which 

 abounds in swamps, grows with and resembles 

 in its habits skunks' cabbage, except that the 

 leaves are narrower, longer, and grow upon 

 the seed stock; these 1 boil till I obtain a 

 strong decoction. I then take out the roots, 

 and add to the liquor, saltpetre in the propor- 

 tion of four ounces to three gallons, and put 

 in my seed corn while the liquor is yet warm. 

 Thirty. -ix hours is the longest period it should 

 be suffered to steep, as the nitre may destroy 

 the vegetating principle of the grain. As a 

 farther precaution the liquor is again warmed, 

 and a gill of tar stirred in, and the seed again 

 immersed in it anew. Thus prepared, 1 have 

 not lost twenty hills in four years. The ger- 

 minating process commences before the corn 

 is planted, and unless the ground is too wet 

 to grow this crop, (and it never pays tho ex- 

 pense of culture on soils that abound in springs, 

 or that are naturally wet and cold,) it will can- 

 tinue to progress. The helebore is poisonous, 

 and though the ground may partially extract 

 the poison, neither birds nor squirrels will ev- 

 er disturb a dozen hills. The tar impregnates 

 the seed and protects it from the worm. The 

 nitre and plaster, with which latter the seed is 

 mixed boforo planting, combine their fertilizing 

 properties to give vigor and strength to the 

 young plants." 



There can be no doubt, we believe, of the 

 valuable properties of the steep above recom- 

 mended. Whether it ought to be preferred to 



that of a so uik.n of copper.,.-., which has been 

 pretty extensively u-ed ancJ with few excep- 

 tions met with entire approbation, we are not 

 able to sav. 



Mr, Bu.-I, moreover, states that " A gentle- 

 man in Madison couuty. who is said to have 

 raised the greate-t crop' of corn ever grown in 

 this state, ascribes bn success principally to 

 the circumstance of Ins ha> ing put four bush- 

 els of seed to an acre, instead of six quarts, 

 the usual quantity; ami pulling up all hut the 

 icqutsite number of the most thrifty plants at 

 the first dressing of the crop; and that no 

 stalk prod iced less lhan three ears. I do 

 uot know thai the facts have been correctly 

 stated to me; but I confess they appear to be 

 rational We scarcely ever notice a hill of 

 corn, without ob-erving a spear more vifforons 



than the rest, which m 



■ imams rs ascendency, 



and is always most prolific in its return. On 

 the contrary, those plants which are pale and 

 sickly when young, seldom produce much un- 

 der the best care. My experience warrants 

 mo in the belief, thai seed taken from a stalk 

 which has produced two or three ears, is more 

 prolific than se. d which has produced hut one 

 ear." 



A change of seed is advisible with this grain 

 as with all others. ' But let the farmer he- 

 ware of taking his seed from loo great a die- 

 tance. If he should bring it, for instance, a 

 handred miles from the southward, his corn 

 would fail of ripeninz ; if as far from the 

 north, he must expect a lighter crop ; and in 

 case of drought the latter will be more apt to 

 suffer, as it has been proved by experiment. 

 A farmer from the county of Bristol, took seed 

 from the county of Cumberland, Maine. It 

 cime on well at first, but the summer bein» 

 pretty hot and dry, it parched up, and produ- 

 ced next to nothing, though the seed he had 

 taken from hi3 own field turned out very well. 



" If the farmer cannot conveniently obtain 

 new seed ; or if he be loth to part with a sort 

 which has served him well, and choose rather 

 to use it than seed lie has not tried, let him at 

 least shift seed fiom one field to another, and 

 especially from one kind of soil to another. 



" And in the choosing of seed, some regard 

 should be had to the -tate of the soil on which 

 it is intended to grow. If it be poor, or 

 wanting in warm'h, the sell.. w sort with eight 

 rows will be most suitable, as it ripens early. 

 A better soil should have a larger kind of seed, 

 that the crop may be greater, as it undoabled- 

 ly will. 



'• Shell the seed gently by hand, thai it may 

 not be torn or bruised at all, rejecting about an 

 inch at each end nf th< ear. And if any corns 

 appear with black eyes, let them also be 

 rejected, not because they will not grow at all, 

 the contrary 6eing true, but because the black- 

 ness indicates, either some defect in drying, or 

 want of perfucion in the gran." — Deane. 



It was the o; inion of Mr. Lorain that Indian 

 corn is not generally plained sufficiently early. 

 He observed that " when corn is planted very 

 early it is commonly severely affected by frost, 

 so much that many plants are cut off by the 

 ground. TIiib is unquestionably an injury to 

 which no judicous firmer would expose the 

 plant, if the advaniages obtained by very early 

 planting, could he had by planting later. Still 

 if the roots remain unhurt, they are of conse- 

 quence established and very soon repair tho 

 injury done above the soil, after the frost ceases 

 to act on the plants. Of course they take the 

 lead, and will maintain their superiority over 

 later planted corn. The ears also fill and ri- 

 pen much better in northerly climates from 

 this practice. 



The shooting and filling of them takes place 

 when the heat of the sun is much greater; 

 and when less cloudy, cold dripping weather 

 prevails, and the crop is nothing like so liable 

 to be injured by frost [in antumn]. The 

 grounds are also sooner ready for crops sown 

 in the fall. This mode of management wilf 

 often cnablo tho cultivator to grow tho large; 



