THE COTTAGE GARDENER AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'S COMPANION, February 24, 1857. 371 
piles, and a sprinkling of all the manufacture put together. 
What's to be done ? I’m sttre I can’t tell. Boy Jem says, 
“ Send me to tell ’em betterand ’pon my life it’s not a bad 
remedy. 
I must say white, clear blue, or yellow legs are the primi¬ 
tive colours.—W. H., Exeter. 
CAUTION TO PIGEON AND POULTRY 
AMATEURS. 
Whatever may be thought of the Manchester school of 
politicians, there can he but one opinion amongst honest 
men respecting the character of a certain school of Pigeon 
fanciers who at present reside in that city. 
Their method of obtaining Pigeons without purchase is 
by writing to those who have taken the prizes at recent 
exhibitions, inquiring if they have birds for sale, and the 
price. On receiving a reply they direct the birds to be sent 
by an early train, and this is the last occasion on which 
they favour the victim with their autograph; for, should he 
be sufficiently verdant to send the birds, no amount of letters 
elicits a reply, much less the promised post-office order. On 
the contrary, should he have sufficient sense to require the 
money first, or a respectable reference in town, they at once 
perceive they have got hold of the wrong man, and waste no 
more postages upon him. 
As many persons have been swindled out of their birds in 
the manner described, I should strongly recommend all 
amateurs to decline altogether sending their birds to 
strangers without pre-payment. Several instances of the 
successful working of this scheme have recently come under 
my notice, the last attempt being an unsuccessful one to 
obtain a pair of Carriers from Mr. J ames Percival.—W. B. 
Tegetmeier. 
THE LOP-EARED RABBIT. 
Flat, or Foll-lop Rabbit ; with Butterfly Smut. 
The property of Mr. Percy Boulton. 
In breeding the Lop-eared Rabbit there are seven points 
to aim at, namely, 1st, length of ear, measuring from the 
tip of one ear to the tip of the other; 2nd, width of ear; 
3rd, colour, namely, blue and white, black and white, tor¬ 
toiseshell, fawn and white, grey and white, fawn, blue, black, 
grey, sooty, or dusky fawn and white, with pink eyes; 4th, 
position of the. ears ; 5th, the size of the eye, and the larger 
this is the better; 6th, the general carriage of body; and 
7th, the size. All these properties are very fairly exhibited 
in the print. The longest-eared Rabbit ever bred measured 
22 inches in length of ear, and 5| inches in breadth. The 
fashionable colours are blue and white, black and white, and 
tortoiseshell. The required carriage of the ears is well 
shown in the print, and the requisite points are these:— 
Both ears should fall equally, and as near to the edge of the 
inner corner of the eye as possible. The round or convex 
surface of the ear should be outwards, and the concave 
internal surface nearly concealed, and lying close to the face. 
The ear itself should be of a whole colour, the same as the 
rest of the prevailing colour, whatever that may be. It 
should be firm, though narrow, and rounded at its root, 
rapidly becoming broad till about two-thirds of its length, 
when it reaches the extreme width, from which point it 
should gradually taper to a somewhat angular extremity. 
The ear in texture should be soft, silky, and semi-trans¬ 
parent, showing the veins, and the hair with which it is 
covered should be short and fine. 
The general carriage of a Rabbit should be as follows :— 
Low at the shoulders, high at the rump, head resting on the 
dewlap when sitting, which is a double-fold skin filled with 
fat, and covered with soft, white fur, seen under the chin of 
the doe, and it begins to appear at the age of about nine 
months. The greatest weight I have ever heard of for a 
Rabbit is 20 lbs.; but the average is 9 lbs. The proper 
marking for a Rabbit is as follows :—The nose should be 
marked at each side with some dark colour, having a dark- 
coloured mark running up the face so as to meet the marks 
before mentioned, with them forming what is called the 
butterfly smut, which is so called from its resemblance to a 
butterfly with its wings extended: this appearance is shown 
in the drawing. The eyes are surrounded with colouring, 
which joins with the colour on the ears. The chain is a 
line of spots at each side of the shoulder, running from the' 
ears to the saddle, which is a large patch of colour, so called 
from its resemblance to an ordinary saddle. All these 
markings are shown in the drawing. To be good specimens 
of this breed none should measure less than 18 inches; 
but 20 and 21 inches, when met with, are remarkable 
lengths. These, like other animals, require a cross of fresh 
blood frequently, which may be accomplished in the cheapest 
manner by buying a good buck from time to time from some 
well-known stock.— Percy Boulton. 
