THE BABBIT. 



Bays, " Rabbits will breed seven times a year, aad bring eight 

 young ones each time. On a supposition that this happens 

 regularly during four years, their numbers will amount *o 

 1,274,840." Supposing these rabbits, little and big, to be wortu 

 no more than sixpence each, here is an opportunity of realizing 

 a princely fortune in four years — on the supposition that so 

 many rabbits would in that short period spring from the inex- 

 pensive buck and doe by which the business was started. It 

 would, however, be altogether out of the scheme of nature that 

 Buch a result should come about. Neither the seven litters a 

 year nor the eight young ones at a litter could be guaranteed, 

 and rabbit flesh is surely " heir " to as many ills as human. 

 Pennant should have taken the pains to calculate what a differ- 

 ence to the grand total would have appeared, had only ten out 

 of his growing multitude of rabbits died during the first six 

 months — a much more fair supposition than that they should 

 all live and do well. The above-mentioned is, however, by no 

 means a solitary instance 6f fortunes guaranteed (on paper) to 

 rabbit-breeders. A few years ago there was published in Paris, 

 by one M. Despouy, a pamphlet clearly demonstrating that it 

 needed but an outlay of twenty pounds per annum to insure to 

 a rabbit farmer at least £800 a year.' 



About fifty years ago, there existed in this country two or 

 three wholesale breeders of rabbits, each of whom kept from 

 fifteen hundred to two thousand breeding does. The specula- 

 tion was, however, discontinued, partly on account of the sheer 

 unprofitableness of the speculation, and partly through the 

 complaints of the surrounding farmers, whose properties were 

 in a fair way to ruin on account of the nightly ravages of the 

 furry multitude. Mowbray, who wrote about thirty years ago, 

 says, " The only considerable rabbit-feeders of whom I heard 

 were two gentlemen, the one resident in Oxfordshire, the other 

 in Berks. The former fed some hundreds, and then it was 

 said intended to double his stock. The huts were placed in a 

 small building set apart for that purpose. The then stock 

 produced one load of dung per week, two loads of which were 

 sufficient to manure one acre of land. Three dozen of rabbits 

 per week were sent to the London markets, but, keep and 

 attendance reckoned, no other profit accrued, excepting the 

 dung, the price of which used to be eightpenee per bushel, and 

 I believe thirty-six bushels are reckoned a load. The Berks 

 gentleman, according to the custom ot that county, fed whitp 

 rabbits on account of the superior value of their skins." The 



