THE COMMERCIAL BREEDS 49 
properly handled will make as good a commer- 
cial rabbit as any that can be bred. 
It has a good quality of flesh, fine texture 
and flavor and because of its great popularity 
is in demand everywhere. In fact, the Belgian 
craze of a generation ago so well advertised it 
that many people today suppose that all rab- 
bits bred in hutches are Belgian hares. 
In picking a commercial rabbit, it is not 
wise to let sentiment rule your reason. If the 
enterprise is to be for meat, pick a breed that 
will mature fast and bring you more at market 
age than any other. If you are breeding for 
both meat and for fancy purposes, it is well to 
choose a breed that combines these qualities as 
much as possible. 
And, in the end, it isn’t the breed that 
counts for so much after all, as it is the strain 
and the breeding vitality back of the animals 
you choose. It is the individual and not the 
breed that counts in the long run. 
