FERRETING RABBITS. 117 



commanding two ways. Some people think No. 3 the 

 best shot for rabbits, as they require a very hard blow. 



Gentlemen or farmers wishing to protect any piece of 

 ground from rabbits, have only to place round it a piece 

 of newly-tarred cord, which no rabbit will pass. It is 

 also understood, that a slice of turnip, placed at the 

 entrance of each muish a , will effectually deter any hare 

 from passing through. 



FERRETING RABBITS. 



FERRETING rabits is performed by covering the 

 mouths of the burrows in a hedgerow, or any place 

 where they lie convenient for being well attended with 

 purse nets. A sufficient number of attendants must be 

 properly placed, and the profoundest silence observed. 

 The ferrets, or cafe, as they are styled, must be coped, 

 that is, muzzled, or have bells tied round their necks, or 

 they might not be recovered. The man who earths the 

 cat, should keep on the windward side of the burrow, 

 a general rule to be observed ; for if the degree of alarm 

 be too great, the rabbit will rather remain, and be torn 

 in pieces, than bolt. The instant a rabbit is netted, the 

 person waiting must throw himself upon it, and kill it 

 as speedily and with as little noise as possible ; but 

 there is no sport unless rabbits are quite plentiful. 



a Meuse, in modern phraseology. 



