TEE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



801 



does are such prolific breeders this doe^ 

 not appear to be very noticeable. 



The flesh of the Belgian hare is of good 

 and delicate flavour, and the more they 

 are eaten the more they are appreciated. 



Mr. R. J. Lloyd-Price (a great rabbit 

 breeder in the Old Country, and who has 

 written a book on the subject, " Rabbits 

 for profit and rabbits for powder." wherein 

 some valuable hints are given, and especi- 

 ally on hutch breeding), advocates a cross 

 between the Belgian hare and the English 

 wild rabbit, but this, I should imagine, 

 would not only have a tendency to reduce 

 the size, but be also hardly feasible in 

 Natal. 



My own experience of the English 

 wild rabbit out here is that he is a 

 complete failure. I imported some 

 for the purpose of trying the cross 

 with the Belgian, and turned them (the 

 rabbits) down in a well-made warren, 

 part of which consisted of a plantation 

 of trees for shelter, and also a few loads 

 of brushwood, poles, and grass, for im- 

 mediate protection until they had had 

 time to make their burrows. The balance 

 of the land consisted of two acres of grass 

 veld, and the whole was enclosed in 

 special rabbit-proof wire netting sunk 

 into the ground. This was some 2^ years 

 ago, and in spite of care and trouble, and 

 also warnings from friends that I might 

 turn the place into a second Australia 

 they have multiplied— out of existence. 



Another failure I have to record was 

 an attempt to breed up our wild Natal 

 rabbit f which runs to 61bs. and 71bs. in 

 weight) for the purpose of crossing with 

 the Belgian. Full-grown, half-grown, and 

 pairs taken from the nest (our Natal 

 rabbit follows the fashion of the English 

 hare by breeding twos) and put with 

 Belgian mothers, all refuse to live out of 

 sheer cussedness, and therefore nipped in 

 the bud what should have been an inter- 

 esting experiment. My chief reasons for 

 attempting this cross were to continue the 

 size of the hares, and also increase their 

 hardiness by a cross with an animal in- 

 digenous to the Colony. I only hope others 

 will attempt this cross, as undoubtedly 

 there are benefits which might accrue 

 from both sides. One mistake has 

 already teen made in Natal, I refer to the 

 crossing of the Belgian with the ordinary 

 domestic lop-eared rabbits which does not 



increase the size, and only tends to pro- 

 pagate rainbow-coloured specimens at the 

 expense of the true wild appearance of 

 the pure Belgian. 



Now as regards breeding the Belgian, 

 pure and simple, and the necessary adjuncts 

 thereto. 



It would probably be easier and better 

 for anyone wishing to start and breed 

 them, to obtain his stock from someone 

 who is already breeding them in this 

 country. The great thing is to try and 

 obtain hares that are pure bred, and then 

 after he has got into the run of the thing, 

 to import stock from England to improve 

 with. Importing comes by no means ex- 

 pensive if care is taken over the matter, 

 but of this I could give further particalars 

 at some future time if required. 



With regard to hutches " the Morant " 

 hutch (a hutch patented some years ago 

 by Major Morant) is probably the best, as 

 it saves a lot of trouble in cleaning out 

 and feeding. There is one kind for 

 breeding does, and another for young 

 ones, the latter holding about twelve. 

 These hutches are made with wire 

 netting bottoms so that the hares can 

 eat the grass through the meshes, and a 

 strip of zinc run all round to prevent the 

 wood getting spoilt by weather, &c. One 

 siile and one end are boarded up, the 

 other side and end being of 1-inch mesh 

 wire netting ; sloping roof of boards. 

 Inside, along one end is a fixed board to 

 enable the hares to sit on when the hutch 

 is moved, and also for them to rest off the 

 damp earth. The roof is on hinges, so as 

 to allow of bran or corn being put in 

 daily, hares taken out if necessary, etc., 

 and the beauty of the hutch is that by 

 shifting it its own length two or three 

 times a day the hares get their own green 

 food without the trouble of having it cut 

 and brought to them. A patch of grass 

 should thus be kept in good oraer by 

 being well fed off, and at the same time 

 in good condition by the coating of 

 manure left from the hares. 



Another good thing about these hutches 

 is that at night each four can be placed 

 together in such a manner that nothing 

 but the boards are facing outwards, thus 

 keeping all cold winds and rains away 

 from the occupants. 



I have not adopted this principle myself, 

 as, unfortunately I had made my start 



