C%e RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Raising Rabbits for Food 
A Conservative Statement of Possibilities 
PECULATIVK BOOMS.—Tlunclrcfls; of people 
who liave sorrowful memories of the -Belsian 
hare boom some years ago, when single animals 
sold for from a hundred to five hundred dollars 
apiece, are wondering if the present movement Is 
going to result in a repetition of what occurred 
then. When the market had become well .saturated 
the bottom dropped out of the boom, and Belgian 
hares which had been worth fifty dollars one day 
were not worth five the next. Without doubt a great 
many speculators are taking advantage of the rab¬ 
bit’s poinilarity at the present time to inflate jirices 
and to make dupes of creduious buyer.s. Some of 
the advertising circulars sent out make frank ajfpeal 
as get-rich-quick schemes. The amazing fecundity 
of the rabbit is enlarged upon, the assumption 
always being made that ]iractically every youngster 
will live and be salable at a large price. 
TIIBOIIY AND PKArTTCE.—Now. if it were true 
that each doe would produce four or five litters a 
year, each litter numbering from 10 to 11. and the 
young does breeding at four months, it is ea.sy to 
see that anybody could very quickly aciiuire a large 
supply of rabbits. The truth is that theory and 
practice are a long way removed. Nature arbi¬ 
trarily .sets up limitations which make the expe¬ 
rienced breeder feel well satisfied witli a very much 
smaller rate of increase. If the rabbit industry 
goes on the rocks again it will be largely becau.se of 
the extravagant statements, the misleading claims 
and the fraudulent methods of unreliable individuals 
and companies, some of which have 
practically no stock of their own. 
Quite aiiart froju the fakers are the 
legitimate rablut breeder.s, of whom a 
large number now exist. Fcav people 
realize the interest which is being 
taken in rabbit-breeding among all 
classes of i)W)ple until they visit the 
shows or go out to the suburban towns 
where most of the breeders live. 
A LEtllTIM.Vl'E INDUSTRY.— 
With the high jirice of grain now pre- 
v.iiling, some poultry-keepers are being 
tempted to give up their chickens and 
go into the breeding of rabbits. In 
.some instances this has been done, with 
profit. At the present time the de¬ 
mand for breeding stock is .so great 
that but few surplus animals are left. 
In the end. thougli, the fate of the 
industry must dej)en(l uimu the mauiier 
in which it is developed along com¬ 
mercial lines. A tremendous business 
in the raising of rabbits for food is being carried on 
in England. A man Avho recently returned from 
that country told the* writer that he .siw rabbits 
everywhere. Because of the difficulty in obtaining 
grain for poultry, rabbits are being taken up as a 
substitute, although for that matter English peo¬ 
ple have been eating rabbit for many years. The 
Belgians depended ui)ou rabbits to a large extent 
before the country was overrun by the Bermans. 
The French people, too. have long been familiar 
with rabbit meat, and like it. Some people are 
pr<‘.iudiced against rabbits because they are familiar 
onl.v with the wild species. All the domesticated 
rabbits have moat that is much like the white meat 
of a chicken, with the exception that it is drier. 
When the cook becomes familiar with this peculiar 
(luality, no trouble is found in preparing the meat 
in many savory ways. 
BREEDS.^—Of cour.^e, the best-known tiomestic 
rabbit in this country is the Belgian hare. The 
Flemish (Jiant is anotlier well-known breed, and is 
preferred by some |•abbit-keepers because of its 
larger size. For the last year or two Black (Jiants, 
also called Black Siberian hares, have appeared, 
fl'lieir origin is in dis|)ute. It is claimed in Canada, 
where the best-known breeder lives, that the orig¬ 
inal Black (liants c:une from Russia, being taken 
tu Canada by an emigrant from that country. A 
prominent American breeder, however, claims that 
they are identical with Flemish (Jiants. except for 
their color. They are being exploited p.articularly 
for their value as fur-producing animals. A rabbit 
foiauerly willed a Cerman Checkered (Jiant. but now 
known as the American Checkered or Spotted (Jiant. 
is also being bred to sonii' extent. While all these 
giant rabbits, so-called, iiroduce a large amount of 
meat, they do not mature so rapidly as the Belgian 
lari', and thei'e is not much chance that the, latter 
breed will be supplanted. It is not likely that the 
rabbit will find great favor with the farmer in 
general, but it ofl’ers an easy way for the suburbanite 
f^ircct Potato Yine-Cuttcr, Used Before Dif/fjing. 
Fip. 
to cut the cost of living. It will be interesting to 
see to what extent the rabbit industry wilf be 
developed. e. j. faiuuxgton. 
Mas.sachusetts. 
Daylight Saving Once More 
D AYEKIIiT saving has amounted to nothing here 
so far as I can determine in this vicinity, at 
least, for the farmers. In the village it has proh- 
ably got men up a little earlier in the morning. I 
have taken some notice of the circumstances at night, 
and I simply found that the men usually had longer 
to hang around the streets. 1 do not wish to be 
understood that all used their tihie in that way. 
Some worked more in their gardens, and several put 
in more extra time at the factory. They were paid 
in several cases extra for overtime, and they earned 
a little more money. On the farm it has made no 
difference in man.v ca.ses. Farmers got up no earlier 
than iiefoi'e. for the.v were iqi as early as consistent, 
no matter what the clock .said. They made as long 
da.vs as ever if working as a family or with lilieral- 
minded hired help. The da.v has always been long 
enough, as long as the man could stand, and it has 
been so now. This is the usual thing in m.v com¬ 
munity. I do not think that an.v more time has 
been put in becau.se of the order to change the 
clock. 
I do know of a few cases, however, where it has 
made a difference. The hirisl men Avould not get 
up any earlier, if as early as usual. About six 
o’clock the.v thought was right, or perhaps half 
past six. When it came five in the afternoon they 
proposed to quit. One really good man. after an- 
Blaclc Siberian Rabbit. Fig. 5 //& 
1111 
other had been hired wlio was sort of a townsman 
and an objei'tor and trouhle-maker, took the owner 
to task because he wanted some hay put up after 
five o'clock. The farmer could sa.v nothing, for if 
he did tlie men miglit both ipiit. .so he had to let 
these men commence at six or half past six and quit 
in the field at five. That was .just about the middle 
of the afteimoon. 'I'he men had the wliip now, and 
they did as the.v were a mind to do. The trouble 
maker was let go after awhile, and then the other 
man got a little ashamed and worked a half hour 
longer .sometimes. The change in the clock has done 
mi.schief if it has made an.v difference at all, so far 
as our locality on the f.-irms is concerned. 
Chenango Co., N. Y'. ir. ii. i.. 
The Business of Selling Farm Goods 
() CIIIED’S ,TOB.—The article on page 078 b,y 
R L. (Jreene of Indiana on “Eflicienc.v in 
Markoting.” is timel.v and interesting, but a .state¬ 
ment in it may admit of qualification. ]Mr. Oreene 
contends that the task of trans])orting food iiroducts 
from the farm to the pantr.v is one requiring no par¬ 
ticular skill, •and he calls it a boob.v’s .job. A more 
careful examination ma.v show that this is neither 
the work of a cliild nor a pack-horse. I.ssue is not 
taken with Ylr (Jreene because of an.v' special 
s.vnqiath.v with the large arm.v of middlemen, nor 
bei'ause of an excessivel.v developed bunq) of com- 
bati\enes.s. luit because in the solution of an.v such 
problem it is always wise properly to apprai.se all 
of the difliculties with which it is Ix'set. The 
Kai.ser is not going to win the war by belittling the 
strength of his foes, nor will the mar- 
problem be settleil b.v treating 
child's .job. 
SALESMANSHIP AN ART.—.Selling 
goods is an art requiring .sjiecial quali¬ 
fications, and these not ever.vbod.v pos- 
.sesses. There is not a manufacturing 
or mercantile institution of an.v mag¬ 
nitude ill the country, with the possible 
as ma.v be working 
under government contracts, that could 
maintaiu an existence without the skill 
of the men who have mastered the art 
of .selling. Rarel.v (hies the proprietor 
of an.v such concern go on the road to 
.sell his goods, nor does the foreman 
nor the engineer nor especially the 
roustabout. The clerk in the whole.sale 
establishment must become quite pro¬ 
ficient in selling goods to those who 
call for them at the counter before he 
is competent to go out ou the road 
soliciting trade. The diflicult.v with 
the average farmer is that he has to perform the 
parts of foreman, engineer, roustabout, and .sah's- 
man besides. No ordinary man is suflicientl.v ver.s;i- 
tile to fill such a position. fl’l\e sooner tlu* f.armers 
generall.v come to compivhend this fact and aiv 
read.v to enter into some co-operative method of 
disposing of their iiroducts the better it will be for 
them, and for all concerned. In all of the larger 
industrii's the work is s.v.sfematized and men spi'- 
cialize in the various branches, which are co¬ 
ordinated in one general whole. From these the 
farmer ma.v hairn a lesson in co-operation and its 
importance, esjieciall.v in the work of marketing. 
Thidoubtedly the finest thing in the world would be 
for the government to take up the work of marketing 
as Mr. (Jreene .suggest.s. 
QUALIFIUATIONS needed.—T here are certain 
(pialifications which the succe.ssful sah'sman mu.st 
posse.ss. The very first is a knowledge of the value 
of the goods and of market conditions. This is not 
so essential in marketing grains and cereals, the 
price of which remains practicall.v stationar.v from 
da.v to day, as it is in .selling fruit and potatoes and 
vegetables, the prices of which are subject to con¬ 
stant and wide fluctuations. The small farmer who 
is busy upon his farm finds it extri'inely difficult to 
keei) in touch with market conditions sufficiently to 
be informed regarding jirices and the best markets, 
and con.sequentl.v is open to fia'quimt imposition. A 
ca.se in iioint may be cited, which recently came to 
the writer’s knowledge. .V farmer had 700 to 1,000 
bushels of crab apples to .sell. TMs man was a mem¬ 
ber of a co-operative selling association, and was 
under contract to market his fruit through this 
loucern. But a buyer came along and olTered him 
$.’> per bu.shel for his crab apples. Fearing the a.sso- 
ciation would not be able to do as well, he sold the 
fruit, thinking that he could .square himself with 
the packing-house b.v paying the o per cent agreed 
upon for the work of selling. Tin* buyer did not 
have a market for the fruit, but asked the manager 
Indoor Rabbit IJutch. Fig. 51/8 
