NATURAL LAWS. 51 



Don't overfeed them, keep them a little hungry at all times. 

 A rabbit in the wild state gets its feed little by little and it 

 takes them all night to get enough to eat. You never saw a 

 sick wild rabbit, because they have liberty and never get too 

 much to eat, they have to hunt for it. A good plan is to 

 have a space yarded separate with a roof over this yard and 

 a foot of straw in the yard. Throw oats, corn and carrots 

 in the straw, then they have to hunt for their feed, the same 

 as the wild rabbits do and they have to work for all they 

 get and dig in the straw for their feed. They will not over- 

 feed then. 



A Belgian Hare is the finest eating, there is no better 

 meat. One pair will raise at least seventy-five young in a 

 year, and the young when six months old commence to breed, 

 so you see one pair will easily raise 150 hares in one season. 

 They commence to breed in March and keep it up until 

 October and November. The best way is to let them breed 

 only six litters and mark the bucks so that you will not in- 

 breed. Use different bucks every year or you will be sorry. 



Their pelts sell for thirty to forty cents each. All kinds 

 of imitation furs are made from it. The hide is tough, and is 

 toughest hide in the rabbit family. Rugs are sometimes 

 made from the pelts, but they are very expensive and sell 

 for a high price. Fur hats are made from them and many 

 other things. 



The business will never be overdone. It will be fifteen 

 years before this country will have all the breeders they 

 want, to say nothing about them for the market. You can- 

 not buy Belgian Hares in the market now, and you will not 

 be able to do so for several years to come. They are too ex- 

 pensive to be sold for food at present, as they are all being 

 used for breeding, and until they are for sale in the markets 

 how can they overrun the market. There are more cotton 

 tail rabbits and jack rabbits in America than there ever will 

 be Belgian Hares and they will never sell for five cents like 

 the cotton tails. 



The Belgian Hares weigh from eight to fourteen pounds 

 according to age. One year old they weigh eight pounds. 



