THE GAME BREEDER 



77 



part of Europe, excepting the more 

 northerly portions, rabbit breeding was 

 an important industry. About 100,000,- 

 000 rabbits were marketed annually in 

 France. Approximately 2,200,000 rab- 

 bits were raised in Belgium in 1898 for 

 home consumption and for export. The 

 value of rabbits annually exported from 

 Ostend to England, exceeded $1,000,000, 

 while, including wild hares raised in her 

 game preserves, England herself was 

 producing from 30,000,000 to 40,000,000 

 rabbits. In 1911, the consumption of 

 rabbits in London amounted to 500,000 

 pounds daily, and in Paris to 200,000 

 pounds. The use of rabbits for food is 

 not a novelty in England, for, as far back 

 as 1874, 350,000 rabbits were sold annu- 

 ally in Birmingham, 300,000 in Manches- 

 ter, 200,000 in Nottingham, and 150,000 

 each in Sheffield, Newcastle, and Leeds. 

 The value of rabbit meat imported into 

 Great Britain through London from 

 Australia and New Zealand was $4,500,- 

 000 in 1910. In Germany, rabbits have 

 been raised mainly for consumption in 

 the homes of the breeders. Bavaria pro- 

 duced 415,000 rabbits in 1911. This aid 

 to the solution of the meat problem in 

 Europe is practicable in America. 



Rabbit Growing in America. 



For many years rabbits have been 

 raised in this country as pets and as 

 fancy stock for competitive exhibitions. 

 Until recently, however, there has been 

 no real incentive to breed them for prac- 

 tical ends, as they were not actually need- 

 ed for food, and better fur than theirs 

 could be had for little money. So long 

 as they were looked upon merely as pets 

 they were rarely utilized for food. 



Wild rabbits are common everywhere. 

 They are hunted and trapped by farmers, 

 sportsmen and others and are consumed 

 at home or sold as game. Between No- 

 vember and March they are shipped in 

 carload lots from the Great Plains 10 

 Boston, New York and other easte T n 

 cities. Virginia and the states in the 

 Mississippi valley furnish a great many 

 wild rabbits for local markets. At a 

 tme when round steak was selling at 

 \2 J / 2 cents a pound and cottontail rab- 

 bits at 25 cents a pair or even at 25 cents 



each, no one was interested in raising 

 rabbits for the table. 



During the years 1899 and 1900, while 

 the cost of food was still low, there oc- 

 curred what has been known as the Bel- 

 gian hare boom, which, while it lasted, 

 attracted much attention. Importers 

 went to England for pedigreed breeding 

 stock, pedigrees being at that time ra- 

 ther more highly thought of than the 

 rabbits themselves, and shipped back 

 dozens of Belgian hares every week. 

 Wealthy fanciers went to great lengths 

 for prize- winning stock. Fifty dollars 

 was not an unusual price for one of 

 these rabbits at breeding age, and $265 is 

 said to have been paid for one • rabb-t 

 imported for exhibition at a show in 

 Chicago in 1899. The boom spread rap- 

 idly and continued as long as there was a 

 demand for such breeding stock, but 

 when the demand came down to a meit 

 basis the boom collapsed, as there was; 

 then no real need for a new source of 

 meat. 



Lately, people here and there have- 

 very quietly taken up rabbit raising, first 

 for home use, then for sale. This move- 

 ment, undertaken to supply an actual' 

 need for meat, is fulfilling expectations.. 

 City and suburban dwellers are raising 

 rabbits in back yards. Although the to- 

 tal production is yet comparatively small, 

 it is steadily increasing. In certain lo- 

 calities in California, Oregon, Washing- 

 ton, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Michi- 

 gan and several other States, the do- 

 mesticated rabbit is recognized as a reg- 

 ular meat animal. Rabbits are either 

 shipped alive to market in crates or are 

 neatly dressed ready for cooking and 

 packed in a sanitary manner for trans-' 

 portation. 



The saving and earning power of rab- 

 bits is illustrated by the following con-? 

 crete examples of what is actually being 

 done with them : One resident of Kan- 

 sas City, Kans., raises 300 or 400 pounds 

 of rabbit meat a year for his own table 

 at a cost of only 8 or 10 cents a pound, 

 Another resident of the same city, who 

 breeds registered stock on a space meas- 

 uring 20 by 24 feet in his back yard, 

 has raised and sold enough rabbits in 18 

 months to clear $2,400. A large religious 



