426 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
June 11 
\LIVE STOCK \ 
AND DAIRY. 
THE BELGIAN HARE. 
HIS BREEDING AND CAKE. 
Belgian hares have been so long do¬ 
mesticated that they are perfectly con¬ 
tent in very close quarters. A Belgian 
doe will live and be happy in a hutch 
only 2% x 5 feet. While they are quite 
hardy, they do better in moderately 
warm quarters, but these should be dry, 
light, and well ventilated. While there 
is no danger in their being too light, 
there should be provision for them to get- 
out of the direct sunlight in very hot 
weather. Any barn, loft, or outbuilding, 
if dry and well ventilated, will answer a 
good purpose. They are not given very 
HUTCHES—ONE GATE OPEN. Fig. 186. 
much to burrowing, but a board floor is 
preferable, as it can be cleaned more 
readily. A building 16 feet wide will 
accommodate two rows of hutches, and 
leave an alley six feet wide ; by using 
movable floors covered with metal or 
waterproof paper, two tiers of hutches 
may be placed on each side, the one 
above the other. I have seen three in a 
room only nine feet high, and the upper 
ones did as well as the others. 
The partitions between the hutches 
should have a board one foot wide at the 
bottom, and the rest may be of galvan¬ 
ized wire netting, with one-incli mesh ; 
these partitions should be not less than 
three feet high. Of course, if double 
rows of hutches are used, the lower ones 
should be not less than three feet high. 
Each hutch should be three feet wide 
(2% will answer if crowded for room) 
and have a nest box 18x20 inches inside 
and 16 inches high with a hinged cover. 
On one side, a hole should be cut four or 
five inches wide and six inches high, 
with the top rounded and made smooth. 
This may or may not have a bottom, 
better not, as when the hutch is cleaned, 
it can be set one side and the whole litter 
be cleaned out together. The front end 
of each hutch should have a gate two 
feet high of the full width of the hutch 
to be hinged to one partition and fas¬ 
tened to the other ; it should consist of a 
frame covered with some kind of Butting 
like the partitions. Below this gate, a 
board end should be fitted in, one foot 
wide, slipping down between cleats, so 
that it can be lifted out when the gate 
is open, and when the hutch is to be 
cleaned out. See Fig. 186. 
Near one end of this bottom end-board, 
not over two inches above the bottom, a 
feed box should be fastened, also a water 
FEED AND WATER DISHES; HAY RACK. 
Fig. 187. 
dish. Near the other end, a hay rack 
should be made. This rack is to be one 
foot long, seven inches wide at the top, 
and slant to one inch at two inches above 
the bottom board. It may be made 
by cutting two pieces of board 10 inches 
long, seven inches wide at one end and 
one at the other, and nailing these one 
foot apart to the inside of the bottom 
end-board, and on these nailing a piece 
one inch by two at the top and an inch- 
square piece between these end pieces at 
the bottom. On these bottom and top 
pieces, are nailed pieces of hoop iron one- 
half inch wide and one inch apart. The 
hay is crowded down into these racks, 
and the hares pull it through as they wish 
to eat it. See Fig. 187. There is noth¬ 
ing better to litter these hutches than 
pine sawdust, though chaff or cut straw 
may be used. 
Two or three does may be kept in a 
hutch until a week before yeaning, but 
at the first indications of making nest, 
all should be taken out but one, and she 
should have plenty of fine straw or hay 
of which to make her nest. 
Food. —Hares will eat almost every¬ 
thing in the vegetable line, and should 
have plenty of succulent food. Nothing 
agrees with them better for forage than 
good bright clover hay, of either Ited, 
White or Alsike clover. If this be bright 
and green, they will eat it clean, stalks 
and all, but if badly cured and weather¬ 
beaten, it is better not to expect them 
to eat much of the stalks. Throw them 
out for litter, and give fresh every morn¬ 
ing. They are also fond of. and will eat 
lots of Blue-grass hay. They will eat 
Timothy rather than starve, but do not 
like it. Of succulent foods, scarcely 
anything comes amiss. Cabbage, tur¬ 
nips, carrots, beets and parsnips are 
all readily taken, and they will eat 
potatoes, but not if they can get any of 
the others. Of weeds, they, like sheep, 
will eat a multitude, and the bitterer 
they are, the better they like them. They 
never tire of dandelion, burdock, or gar¬ 
den mallows. In Summer, they may be 
fed any kind of grass cut green, but at 
all times, they should have all the dry 
hay they will eat. For grain, there is 
nothing they prefer to oats ; wheat bran 
is also good for them, and should always 
be fed to the pregnant does and young 
hares. They are very fond of peas, and 
also like an occasional feed of wheat and 
beans, but don’t feed them too many 
beans. In short, they like a variety, 
and l find that they can be taught to eat 
readily what they reject at first offer. 
I keep a lump of rock salt before mine, 
but I don't see them eating much of it. 
It will not do to keep the does while 
suckling young on dry food principal^ 
and then change the young ones when 
weaned to a succulent ration, as in this 
case many of them will die with bowel 
trouble. The little ones when taken 
from the dam should be continued on 
same kind of food she ate while suckling 
them, hence it is better to feed nursing 
does with an abundance of succulent 
food. Many people have the same no¬ 
tion regarding hares as with sheep, that 
they need no water, but I notice that 
mine, even when eating all the green 
food they care for, drink many times a 
day, and they should have plenty of 
good, clean, fresh water always accessi¬ 
ble. Hares should be fed and watered 
regularly once a day, and this is enough 
if well supplied. 
Cake—W ith a suitable hutch, plenty 
of food and water, and the quarters 
kept clean and well ventilated, they do 
not need much looking after ; but to be 
most successful, one should know some¬ 
thing of their notions and habits. When 
about at the end of her pregnancy, the 
doe begins to make her bed, she will fill 
her box with nesting material, and then 
pluck out large quantities of her hair to 
line the nest and cover the young when 
born. At this time, she should be en¬ 
tirely alone in her hutch, and be not dis¬ 
turbed beyond being properly fed. The 
litters will run from three or four to 16, 
and when born, are about the size of the 
so-called deer mouse, have no vestige of 
hair, are blind, and their ears are not 
more than one-half inch long. For a 
week or more, the doe keeps them en- 
Did anybody anywhere 
ever object to a Macbeth 
lamp-chimney ? 
But get the Number made 
for your lamp. Get the Index. 
Write Macbeth Pittsburgh Pa 
tirely covered in the hair pulled to make 
the nest, and the entrance to nesting 
box closely stopped with litter. During 
this time, it is unsafe to handle the 
young, or even put a hand into the nest, 
as the does, particularly the young ones, 
will often kill their young if they have 
been handled at this time. Under no 
circumstances should the buck be allowed 
in the hutch, as he is most sure to kill 
the young if he finds them before they 
have their eyes open. 
When from four days to a week old, 
the young ones should be examined and, 
if more than six are in the litter, the 
smallest ones should be killed, as six are 
as many as can be made to grow most 
thriftily by any doe. There is a slight 
difference in the shape of head and gen¬ 
eral appearance of the sexes, but still it 
is quite difficult to determine accurately 
the sex of the very young hares without 
a close examination. If one wishes to 
breed as rapidly as possible, the doe will 
often accept service when the young are 
only two days old, and should be put 
with buck each day until she accepts 
service; after this, she should be tried 
once a week for a couple of weeks. Of 
course, if bred at once after yeaning, 
she will necessarily wean the young ones 
when about a month old, but otherwise 
she will sometimes nurse them until two 
months old. In any case, as soon as they 
will eat, they should be liberally fed, 
and may all be kept together in a hutch 
until old enough to breed ; but it is bet¬ 
ter to separate the sexes as soon as ac¬ 
curately distinguished, and keep each in 
separate hutches. 
When raising for market, the bucks 
should be emasculated as soon as possi¬ 
ble, which will be at from six to eight 
weeks old. They are much quieter, 
grow faster, and will make better eat¬ 
ing by being emasculated, and will make 
a heavier weight at six months old. The 
does will usually accept service at from 
four to five months old, but if bred so 
young, will not get full growth at less 
than eight or nine months. They may 
be bred eight or ten times a year, but 
ordinarily, about six times will be better 
for both old and young. 
Diseases. —I have had no trouble with 
any diseases, except an occasional attack 
of scours, but this has, in every instance, 
quickly yielded to a feed of ash leaves or 
bark, White ash is best. It will pay to 
gather a quantity of White-ash leaves in 
Summer, and dry and preserve them for 
an occasional Winter feed ; but in the 
absence of ash leaves, some of the green 
limbs may be given them, and they will 
(Continued on next page.) 
Says Mr. G. W. LOUD, writing from Silver Lake. 
Maine: “ I have used Jayne’s Expectorant for twenty 
years. My doctor recommended it, and I am sure 
that it hassavod my life in one or two instances.'’ 
For the Liver use Jayne’s Painless Sanative Pills. 
—Adv 
$50 IN A LUMP 
That is just about the , 
amount of money the 
shrewd horse buyer i 
wants to knock off the , 
price of a good horse 
for one small lump I 
on the leg. Why not ( 
take off the lump and 
get the extra money? ( 
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ELLERSLIE STOCK FARM, 
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AT FARMERS’ PRICES! 
Two Registered Jersey Bull Calves 
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’TIS FOLLY 
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