248 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



disturbed till the first drive, it is better to get rid 

 of the rabbits. (3) The destructiveness of rabbits is 

 notorious, and the keeper will often be called upon by 

 his master to protect his garden and his flower-bedded 

 lawn from their encroachments ; and a farmer has a 

 right to protest in those cases where rabbits are laid 

 down to such an extent that they overrun and materially 

 damage his crops. 



So much for the rabbit as vermin. In considering 

 him as a comparatively unprotected and unpreserved 

 occupant of a shooting estate, we are regarding him in 

 his most popular and most general aspect. We use 

 the word "comparatively" advisedly, for in nearly 

 every case some protection is necessary both for the 

 sake of the rabbit and for the sake of proper shooting, 

 and however little attempt is made to convert a small 

 rabbit shoot into the proportions of a warren, yet it is 

 necessary, if rabbits are to be all healthy or numerous, 

 that the rule as to the addition of new blood be observed 

 as carefully as in the case of the latter. The unvary- 

 ing rule is, that new blood shoidd be introduced every 

 year. This is a rule, however, that is almost invariably 

 neglected. The law of intermarriage is the same 

 throughout the whole animal world. Intermarriage 

 amongst peoples tends to the deterioration of the race. 

 An uncrossed grouse stock tends to disease and death. 

 A rabbit stock which is left to itself accumulates 

 diseases of the most virulent description. The danger 

 is far greater in the case of rabbits than in that of birds, 



