176 THE CULTIVATOR. May. 
FANCY LOP-EARED RABBITS. 
Breeding and Management of the> Rabbit, 
The domestic rabbit, in all its varieties, has always 
been, and still is, a great favorite in many parts of the 
European continent 
In Holland, it is bred with reference to color, only, 
which must be a pure white, with dark ears, feet, legs, 
and tail; this distribution has a singular effect, but, with 
all, it is a pretty little creature. The French, breed a 
long, rangy animal, of great apparent size, but deficient 
in depth and breadth, and of course, wanting in consti¬ 
tution • no attention is paid to color, and its marking is 
matter of accident. The White Angola, with its beauti¬ 
ful long fur and red eyes, is also a great favorite in 
France. 
In England, the rabbit formerly held the rank of 
tl farm stock!” and thousands of acres were exclusively 
devoted to its production; families were supported, and 
rents, rates, and taxes were paid from its increase and 
sale. The “gray-skins” went to the hatter, the “sil¬ 
ver-skins” were shipped to China, and were dressed as 
furs; while the flesh was a favorite dish at home. This 
was the course pursued in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, and 
many other counties, with their light sandy soils, before 
the more general introduction of root culture, and the 
rotation of crops, gave an increased value to such land. 
Since then, however, I remember visiting a farm of Lord 
Onslow’s, in Surrey, containing about 1,400 acres. It 
was in the occupation of an eminent flock-master and 
agriculturist, who kept some hundreds of hutched rab¬ 
bits for the sake of their manure, which he applied to 
his turnep crop; added to this, their skins and carcasses 
were quite an item of profit, nothwithstanding the care 
of them required an old man and boy, with a donkey 
and cart. The food used was chiefly brewer’s grains, 
miller’s waste, bran and hay, with clover and roots, 
the cost of keep not exceeding two pence a week. The 
hutches stood under a long shed, open on all sides, for 
. the greater convenience of cleaning and feeding. I was 
told that the manure was much valued by the market- 
gardeners round London, who readily paid 2s. 6d, a 
bushel at the rabbitries. These rabbitries are very nu¬ 
merous in all the towns and cities of England, and form 
a source of amusement or profit to all classes, from the 
man of fortune to the day-laborer. Nor is it unfrequent 
that this latter produces a rabbit from an old tea-chest, 
or dry-goods box, that wins the prize from its competi¬ 
tor of the mahogany hutch or ornamental rabbitry; for 
the feeling on such occasions certainly is —“ stand back, 
fair-play, and let the best win.” 
Clubs and societies abound for the breeding and exhi¬ 
bition of the “ Fancy-Lops,” now the favorite rabbit in 
England, and originally imported from Madagascar. 
Much pains have been taken, and much money spent, to 
bring them to their present perfection in form, color and 
size; all which are minutely attended to, and not very 
easily combined in any one animal, and hence they form 
an admirable test of skill on the part of the breeder. 
For instance, a rabbit to come out a winner, at one of 
those exhibitions, must possess all the points of symme¬ 
try in common Avith the larger animals of the improved 
breeds; such as, a small clean head, wide and full shoul- 
ers, broad and deep chest, a wide back, large loin, full 
quarters and fine bone. 
Some of us, I suspect, find it no easy matter to get 
even thus far in the catalogue of excellencies; but to all 
these essentials are to be added the more conventional, 
and perhaps the more difficult points, of beauty and fan¬ 
cy, as laid down by the various societies; embracing not 
only form but color,—but the particular disposition and 
forms of color. 
A prize rabbit, then, must possess, besides the before 
mentioned properties, a full, round, clear eye, an ear 
(colored as the body,) long and broad, of a soft delicate 
texture, dropping alike and nearly perpendicularly down 
by the side of the cheek, with the convex of the ear, 
turned rather out than in. This is termed its “ car¬ 
riage .” The color on the body must be in strong rich 
unbroken masses, spreading itself uniformly over the 
back, sides and haunches, called the “saddle,” but 
breaking into spots and patches on the shoulders, knotvn 
as the “ chain.” The head must be full of color inter¬ 
spersed with white on the forehead and cheeks, while 
the darker marking on the point of the nose and on each 
lip, goes by the name of the “ butter-fly ,” from the re¬ 
semblance it should bear to that insect. Add to all this 
a large full dewlap, beautifully white, which spreads it¬ 
self (Avhen the animal reposes) over the fore feet and 
forms a rich cushion for the head. All this, combined, 
