76 
In England this rabbit is largely bred for the 
‘table, its principal rival being the Flemish 
Giant—a larger and more heayily boned 
variety emanating as its name implies from 
the Continent. Asa pet the Belgian hare will 
be found to be hardy and interesting. He 
needs, of course, to be fed rationally—many 
people who go in for rabbits have but a very 
vague idea as to how they should be fed. 
Good white oats and plenty of all sorts of 
fresh green stuff in the summer, with succulent 
roots in the winter when green stuff is 
scarce—these are the natural foods of a rabbit. 
Bread and milk and things of that sort are 
not natural 
foods, and 
tend to cause 
disease of the 
liver. 
wee 
WHEN these 
lines appear 
in print poul- 
try keepers 
will have two 
ideas upper- 
most in then 
minds. The 
first 1s how to 
eet ther birds 
most quickly 
through the : 
moult, and Photograph by C. Reid, Wishaw. 
the second is 
how to make 
preparations 
for the autumn and winter egg basket. 
These two topics are very 
intimately connected with each 
other because the latter depends 
upon the former. To have a good supply 
of eggs during the autumn we must get 
our birds early through the moult: and, if 
possible, induce them to begin laying before 
the colder weather sets in. It is well 
known that poultry which start laying early 
in the autumn as a rule can be depended 
upon for eggs throughout the winter months, 
whereas a bird that is late in its moult will 
not be ready to lay until the cold weather 
SILVER GREY DORKINGS. 
Good farmyard specimens. 
The Poultry 
Yard. 
Animal Life 
is at hand, and that will most likely have 
the effect of stoppimg it altogether, and she 
will remain unproductive until spring. ‘This 
is usually the history of old hens, for the 
older a fowl is the later it begins to moult 
and the longer it takes in the process; this 
is why poultry keepers who have had ex- 
perience always endeavour to get chickens 
hatched out early in March so that the 
pullets among them may be fully developed 
and may have changed their chicken feathers 
in time to start laymg im the autumn. The 
best way to help poultry through the moult 
is to keep them very warm and give them 
daily a little 
hemp seed 
and linseed 
with their 
regular sup- 
ply of corn 
and a little 
chemical food 
as a tonic in 
the drinking 
water. 
Os 
Amonest the 
many vari- 
eties of beau- 
tiful pigeons 
known to the 
fancier there 
is none more 
handsome 
than the 
Archangel. 
It is not by any means so widely cultivated 
as it deserves to be. Hspe- 
cially is it suited for purposes 
of the country-house aviary— 
being hardy and requiring none of the 
attention which the mufflegged varieties of 
pigeons require. It can be left to itselfi— 
will breed freely and is capable of getting 
its own living just as the blue rocks and 
other common dove-cote pigeons obtain 
theirs. The plumage of the Archangel is 
black and chocolate. The wings and tat 
are blaek, whilst the head, neck and breast 
are chocolate. No coloured plate can 
The 
Pigeonry. 
