FANCIERS' JOURNAL AND POULTRY EXCHANGE. 



345 



they burned their wings and fell down." In the second, 

 dated September 11, 1661, he writes the following, which 

 will go to the very heart of all cat-plagued pigeon fanciers: 

 " To Dr. Williams, who did carry me into his garden, where 

 he hath abundance of grapes ; and he did show me a dog 

 that he hath to kill all the cats that come hither to kill his 

 pigeons, and do afterward bury them, and do it with so 

 much care that they shall be quite covered, that if the tip 

 of their tail hangs out, he will take up the cat again and dig 

 the hole deeper, which is very strange ; and he tells me that 

 he do believe he hath killed a hundred cats." A dog of this 

 breed would fetch a fabulous price nowadays. — Cassel's. 



Sjwaj.l Pej DepajvtjvieiJt. 



/Kg- All communications and contributions intended for this depart- 

 ment should be addressed to HOWARD I. IRELAND, Concordville, 

 Delaware County, Pa. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



WHITE MICE. 



These beautiful and interesting little creatures — the 

 smallest of four-footed pets — seem to have been totally 

 neglected by writers on the subject of animals kept for 

 amusement; yet, I venture to say, there is hardly a person 

 who has not during some period of his boyhood had a few 

 of them. Boarding-schools are rarely without some of them, 

 kept by the students ; indeed, this is such a noticeable fact 

 that Dickens, in his story of David Copperfleld, mentions 

 the school at which young David spent his early youth as 

 celebrated because of this. Nor is there a pet possessing 

 more elegant proportions, displaying more agility, or wear- 

 ing a handsomer coat than this same little white mouse. 

 Their gracefully shaped limbs and body, and the beautiful 

 shade of pink coloring in their eyes and ears, are surpassed 

 by no animal kept as a pet. They are intelligent, and re- 

 cognize the step of their feeder, setting up loud squeaks at 

 his approach. With very little trouble they can be taught 

 innumerable tricks and antics. I heard of one being kept 

 in a cage with a canary, and the two remained on very ex- 

 cellent terms, eating and drinking from the same dishes, at 

 the same time, without ever quarreling. When I was nine 

 or ten years of age, I remember quite distinctly of a white 

 mouse that escaped from its cage, and for a long time would, 

 every night, scamper up and down my mother's bed after 

 she had retired, keeping her awake a good part of the 

 night. Many efforts were made to effect its capture, but all 

 were vain, till one night it was discovered behind a trunk. 

 Crack, crack, crack went its poor little bones, as the trunk 

 was pushed back against the wall, and unfortunate mousey, 

 now a shapeless mass, was thrown into the street to make a 

 dainty meal for some homeless pussy. 



Generally the first pets kept by children, they are soon 

 neglected for the more highly prized rabbit and pigeon. 

 Their great deterrent to popularity is their " mousey 

 smell." Of course they smell "mousey." It is their 

 natural odor, which no degree of domestication will ever 

 remove. A recipe to subdue this objection I now give: 

 Take an empty tin baking-soda box, pierce it with holes by 

 means of an awl, and fill it two-thirds full of chloride of 

 lime or carbolic disinfective powder; nail the box to the 

 upper part of the cage, and I will warrant no had odor will 

 ever be perceived as long as this remains in their cage. 

 This same recipe will effectually neutralize the had odor 

 emitted by any animal. 



White mice are very prolific, producing from four to 

 twenty young at a birth, and having litters monthly. 



A good cage for them may be made out of an empty 

 starch box, fitted with a second story, connected with the 

 first by means of stairs. I once saw one made entirely of 

 tin, and a very beautiful cage it was, with its little tin 

 apartments tenanted by mice of all ages, from the hairless 

 babe to the gray-coated grandfather. 



The best food on which to feed white mice is wheat flour 

 and cracker dust, given alternately, with oat meal once or 

 twice a week. Occasionally give a crust of stale bread, 

 oats, canary seed, etc. Eaw meat fed to them just before 

 littering will satiate their appetite for fresh flesh, and often 

 prevent them from devouring their young. Milk is in 

 every way preferable to water as a drink, and should be 

 given altogether, or as often as possible. 



As soon as a female shows unmistakable signs of being 

 with young, she should be immediately removed from the 

 common cage and placed in a small box by herself. Leave 

 her and the young in quiet for three weeks, and then 

 replace them in the common cage. If one exhibits canni- 

 balistic habits and devours the young, give her an ounce of 

 oak wood administered on the back of the head. 



A very beautiful variety of mice are produced from the 

 union of the brown and white mouse. The manner in which 

 to effect this is to allow a female her liberty in a place in- 

 fested by common mice. After running at liberty for a few 

 nights, confine her in a box separated from the rest, and 

 await the issue. This plan generally proves successful at 

 the first trial ; indeed 1 have never known it to fail, though 

 sometimes the progeny, instead of being " pied," are brown, 

 and in every way resemble the common mouse. 



Be sure and clean their cage once a day. Paul Logic. 



(For Fanciers' Journal.) 



HOW TO FATTEN AND KILL A RABBIT. 



It is often desirable to fatten a domesticated rabbit in the 

 shortest possible time and with but little expense, especially 

 when they are to be sent to market. The best way to do 

 this is as follows : Separate the rabbit to be fattened from 

 his companions, and confine him by himself in a hutch 

 about five by two (not larger), so that he is allowed no 

 room for exercise. Feed four or five times a day — early in 

 the morning on oats or oat meal ; at noon give clover that 

 has been cut the day before and thoroughly dry ; about six 

 o'clock in the evening feed on dry timothy (not dried as 

 hay is, but all the moisture expelled). Whenever you pass 

 his hutch and the feed-box is empty, immediately fill it. If 

 dry food is given and drink is necessary, give milk in 

 preference to water. 



