1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



337 



Tor the Neiv England Farmer. 

 FANCY liOP-EAR RABBITS. 



Mr. Editor : — Above I hand you a drawing from 

 life of a doG and young, of the English Lop-cared 

 Rabbits — such as are now bred to a wide extent in 

 Great Britain, and which are very highly esteemed 

 for the table, when fattened, or as pets with ama- 

 teurs. 



This tribe are beautiful creatures, are very easi- 

 ly reared, and have proved a most interesting ad- 

 dition to the stock of fanciers who have bred them. 

 In England, they receive a good share of attention, 

 and clubs exist there in all the largo cities and 

 towns who hold annual eshil)itions, at which a 

 good deal of competition is evinced for superioi'ity. 



My stock I imported last spring from London, 

 Liverpool and Dublin ; and I shall be happy to 

 show it to those interested, at my residence, in 

 Melrose. The peculiarities of this race consist 

 chiefly in their great size, their fine colors, and 

 their long pendant ears. They are exceedingly 

 prolific — breeding six or seven times in a year — 

 and may be kept advantageously in a very small 

 space. 



My rabbitry occupies a building 12 by .''>0 feet. 

 The animals are confined in hutches three feet 

 long and two feet wide. These hutches, (or apart- 

 ments,) are ranged in tiers, one over another, five 

 on a tier ; and each rabbit occupies a separate 

 hutch. The young are taken from the mother at 

 our to sis weeks old, and are afterwards kept to- 



gether (six-to ten,) in a larger hutch, in a sepa- 

 rate room of the rabbitry. They are ready for 

 breeding at 6 to 8 months old. 



I am not aware that these pretty animals are 

 now very extensively bred in this country, Mr. 

 Rotch, of Morris, N. Y., and Mr. Rodman, of 

 Dedham, being the only gentlemen that I know, 

 who have fine stock ; yet I think we shall very 

 soon see more of them, from the fact that there is 

 at present a good deal of inquiry for them, at home 

 and abroad. I am yours, &c., 



Geo. p. Burnh.am. 



For the New England Farmer. 



STATE PAUPER FARM. 



Mr. Editor : — In my remarks upon the pauper 

 fiirm at Tewksbury, I said, "If the good people of 

 this State expect that the farm will contribute in 

 any important degree to sustain the establishment, 

 they will be disappointed." But from this, it by 

 no means follows, that it is unwise or ill-judged, to 

 connect a fiirm with the institution. As I re- 

 marked, "it will furnish potatoes, garden vegeta- 

 bles, and milk." It will do more ; it will furnish 

 employment to a portion of the inmates f 3r a part 

 of the year at least. To furnish employment, and 

 especially profitable employment, to the inmates of 

 such institutions, has ever been the most difficult 

 problem to solve in connection with them.^ It will 

 afford many conveniences to the institution and 

 contribute very much to its beauty and agreeable- 



