40 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER,. 
A turn. 8. 
and it is di(Tienit to do so if you cannot walk uptight. 
Resides, all amateurs and judges are not young, and a 
bending position, however natural to Sir I’ertinax McSyeo 
pliant, is not a convenient one for those who have passed 
forty-five years. Say in each such compartment a different 
breed, Polands, Hamliurghs, Brahma Pootras. A broad 
gravel walk in front enables visitors of the fairer sex to 
view them at all times and all weather, and those who have 
not seen it have no idea how beautiful the birds look on 
their carpet of turf. This may appear ridiculous to those 
who can command separate places for every pursuit; but as 
, the rich are the minority, and we have lately had the 
| opportunity of seeing what we describe, we recommend the 
plan to our readers. 
| We also think we can indicate another pleasure. We 
• will not ask onr readers to do all that it is required for 
j poultry, such as cleaning out houses, ifec., but we will ask 
j them to see. that it is done. They will be benefited every 
j way. Their feathered stock will gain by it in condition, 
l and they will gain in health. These thoughts struck us 
: lately, when we heard a young and accomplished lady say, 
I immediately after breakfast, and when the east wind was 
i blowing spitefully, that she must go out to see to her 
poultry; and when we saw her, glowing with health and 
I exercise, attending to them, and watched the. anxiety with 
[ which each pen awaited her coming, we felt assured the, 
[ birds were not the. only gainers. These advantages are, in 
! some measure, dependent on having the pens where they 
| are easily accessible with dry feet. 
Much real knowledge is lost by many people who thirst 
for it, because they cannot overcome the false shame of 
appearing ignorant, or because they will not trouble others 
with inquiries. This relates to important matters; hut 
as no one is ashamed to plead ignorance in a new and 
apparently trifling pursuit, they do not hesitate to ask it on 
poultry, and thereby overcome the feeling that has hee.it an 
incubus to them for years. In many cases, such trilling 
inquiries have led to lengthened correspondence, and that 
which began in the disease of a chicken has ended in 
positive science. 
Most people who keep poultry live in the country, and 
there are times when the weather will not permit out-of- 
door pursuits, ami when, perhaps, the time would he 
heavy; but the arrears of correspondence here stop in, and 
afford an actual occupation which must of necessity be 
followed. Houses that a few years since seldom saw the 
postman, now receive their four or five letters daily. Some 
are from strangers, some from mere acquaintances. Many 
of these ripen into friends. 
Thus we think the poultry movement is favourable to 
health and the better feelings of our nature. It gives 
1 employment, and promotes good feelings. It is invaluable 
as a pursuit for children, for it humanizes and instructs 
them, and we are sure none will ever regret the daily hour 
devoted to it. 
RABBIT KEEPING. 
In Rabbit keeping, as in many other things, there are 
j several modes of procedure, which may, I think, be reduced 
to the three following plans : — 
First, where it is desirable to keep them entirely for 
killing, either for sale or home consumption, in which case, 
I think tlie enclosed court, or warren, is the best, being the 
least trouble, and making the greatest return for the least 
expenditure. 
Such a place may be of any size, according to the wants 
or intentions of the keeper; but it should be on a dry soil; 
i a saudy bank, with southerly aspect, will he the most proper. 
It should be well fenced or walled round to keep in the 
Rabbits, and also to keep out dogs, cats, and other enemies. 
It should have a number of shrubs nr bushes for shelter, 
and be well supplied with herbage. The Rabbits must not 
be allowed to become too numerous, and, above all things, 
the bucks must lie reduced to the lowest requisite number. 
In a small collection to one in ten or twelve; in a larger, to 
live or six per cent. To keep tip the health, strength, and 
fertility of the warren, I should advise the catching of all 
the Rabbits every autumn, which may be easily done if the 
court is not too large. Then return (lie requisite number of j 
young docs, and to procure fresh bucks, every year, by I 
which means there would be no fear of degeneracy. In 
addition to the natural herbage of the warren, a little hay J 
in winter, and the refuse of the kitchen-garden in summer, 
is all the attention they would require. 
The second plan is that most generally in vogue, of 
keeping them in hutches in some stable, or out-house; and 
many people think any place is good enough for a Rabbit; 
but if they wish to rear fine, healthy litters, this is a great 
mistake; for this purpose, the hutches must be airy, well 
ventilated, and cheered by the sun’s rays. The hutches, j 
too, should be roomy, the larger the better; a false bottom 
is a great improvement to hutches that are placed one over 
the other. Rabbits are very cleanly animals in themselves, ( 
and if their hutches are not kept clean they are very liable 
to disease. I have never known them to have any ex- j 
term'd vermin ; but they sometimes have internal ones, as : 
worms and flukes, which, I believe, may bn prevented by i 
the occasional use of a little salt in their food. 
In feeding Rabbits, regularity, cleanliness, and an abun¬ 
dant supply of wholesome food, are the chief tilings needful. 
A little sweet hay, a few good oats, or a little pollard with a 
small quantity of salt mixed in it, are excellent condiments ; 
to their usual green food. In winter, when green meat is 
scarce, 1 And such root as carrots, kohl rabi, Swede turnips, 
and Jerusalem artichokes, the best moist food ; but Rabbits 
will eat a great variety of green food, and, I think, with 
regularity, and fresh air, they cannot have too much. I 
would, however, here give one caution; that is, if any one 
obtains a Rabbit that lias, for a great part, or, perhaps, all 
its life, lived on a very small amount of green food, possibly 
hardly enough to supply the necessary amount of moisture 
for its natural well being, to give such an one an unlimited 
allowance of green food would, most likely, prove fatal to it; 
hut if the allowance is gradually increased, no fear need be 
entertained. I hardly know what plants a Rabbit will not 
oat; but it would lie unwise to offer them any of the plants 
known to bo poisonous. I am also inclined to think, that 
the leaves of the white or garden turnip are too relaxing 
for young Rabbits, and think they prefer carrot top, parsley, 
celery, lettuce, garden pinks, and the leaves of Sun-flowers 
and Jerusalem artichokes, though scarcely any garden 
refuse comes amiss to them. 
In breeding them, save your finest, and handsomest young 
does of the current year for stock the next, and procure a 
good buck not related, by which means you avoid degeneracy, 
and get a strong, hardy, and handsome stock. If you are 
breeding fancy Rabbits, select from your own stock such does 
as have ears lopping naturally, for they are much more likely 
to produce lop-eared young cues than such as ate made to 
lop artificially. 
When a doe litters, or you suspect her to be about to do 
so, let her have a little bread and milk, or, at any rate, a pan 
of water, as after parturition, particularly when the milk 
first comes, it causes great thirst, and the poor animal, 
incapable of obtaining, as she would do in her wild state, 
abundance of dew, or moist food, is compelled to eat her 
own young to quench her burning thirst. 
It is, I believe, a popular error to suppose that a Rabbit 
never drinks, though, like the sheep, and other herbivorous 
animals, they can subsist without water if they have an 
abundant supply of succulent food. On the other hand, if 
they have an abundance of green food, and are kept in a 
damp, ill-ventilated place, where evaporation does not freely 
take place, they'then become liable to many disorders, us 
the snuffles, which is a copious discharge of moisture /rom 
the mouth. Potbellied, or blown, is a dropsical affection, or 
simply a distention with air, like hovvn in cattle. The rot, : 
or liver complaint, is another disease to which the Rabbit is 
liable. All these diseases may be cured, if taken in time, 
by dry, airy lodging, less moist food for a while, and the 
addition to their food of a little salt. The Rabbit, if allowed 
good air, exercise, and wholesome food, combined with 
proper shelter in wet or cold weather, is a prolific and 
healthy animal. 
The third mode of rearing Rabbits is that practised by 
those fanciers who breed exclusively for show, or sale; with 
them, the ears and early maturity are the great points. The 
ears are brought to their excellence by various means, such 
