AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
FOR THE 
UTarm, Grarden, and. UdouseTiold. 
“AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, MOST USEFUL, AND MOST NOISLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAX.”— Washington. 
ORANGE JU»D COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS AND PROPRIETORS. 
Office, 245 BROADWAY. 
ESTABLISHED IN 1842. 
Published also in German at same rates as in English. 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in February, 1877, by the Orange Judd Company, at the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
VOLUME XXXVI.—No. 3. 
TERMS : S1.50 PER ANNUM IN ADVANCE ; 
4 Copies for $5; 10 for $12 j 20 or more, $1 each ; 
10 Cents additional must be sent with each Sub¬ 
scription for postage. —Single Number, 15 Cents. 
NEW YORK, MARCH, 1877. 
NEW SERIES—No. 
A GROUP OP LOP -.E ARED RABBITS. — Drawn and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
Rabbits are, in this country, so exclusively raised 
as pets, that we rarely regard them as productive 
stock, and they are very seldom used as food. 
Our wild rabbit is more frequently eaten than the 
domesticated, which, by the way, is a true rabbit, 
while all our wild rabbits are properly hares. The 
flesh of the domesticated animal is vastly superior 
to that of the wild, and the few that are offered in 
our city markets, meet with a ready sale to Euro¬ 
peans, who are acquainted with their good qualities. 
With proper arrangements for raising rabbits, a 
supply of excellent food may be produced very 
cheaply. Among the varieties none is more esteem¬ 
ed than the Lop-ear, so called from the peculiar 
position of the ear. This is a great favorite among 
those who keep rabbits as pets, and it is also the 
most valuable for food, on account of its rapid 
growth and great size, as it is not rare for them to 
weigh 8 or 10 pounds, and specimens have been 
exhibited as heavy as 18 pounds. The points 
of excellence in these animals are : length, width, 
and position of ear ; color and style of marking; 
a full and round eye; general carriage, which should 
be low at the shoulders, high at the hind quarter, 
and a dewlap upon which the head rests when in 
repose; and finally, size. The lop of the ear, due 
to its great size and the weakness of the muscles, 
does not always breed true ; the ears stick some¬ 
times out horizontally, when they are called “ oar- 
lops,” and if but one ear droops, “ half-lops.” 
