256 THE KEEPERS BOOK 



useful for breeding healthy big stock. As 

 rabbits are subject to interbreeding and re- 

 maining about the same burrow, ferreting is 

 useful in order to change the habitat and en- 

 courage interchange of blood. 



(3) Proper fencing. 



(4) The elimination of vermin. 



(5) Draining, if necessary. 



(6) The occasional scattering of lime and salt to 



prevent fouling. 



(7) Avoidance of overstocking. In a case where 



a warren is used for profit, about one hundred 

 rabbits to the acre is a good average, but only 

 about ten to the acre where it is used for 

 shooting purposes. 



Where a warren is small, great pains must be taken 

 with the care of the ground. If the venue of the warren 

 be not changed, careful liming and artificial feeding must 

 be had recourse to. It may be even dressed with some 

 phosphatic and lime mixture, of which, perhaps, dis- 

 solved bones is the best. But it is strongly to be 

 recommended in the case of small warrens, that the 

 venue should be changed every five or six years, so 

 as to secure new feeding-ground and to give the old 

 ground a chance of recovering its food capacity and 

 its healthy condition. 



Shooting the Warren 

 The main point to be observed in this connection 



