The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-08-04

u no iIH pNNibIS saw Nuui inc writer
has seen in his time, this cruelty would
be put an immediate stop TO- The
keeper has to trap In the runs made
for stoats, weasels and rats, but all
these marauders will bite fercely and
fight when caught, are rightly termed
vermin, and must be eXterminated as
such. Another important matter is
the dressing of the ground aiS r the
seasons killing, to sweeten IT, An
equal mixture Of slaked lime and rock.
salt broken fine is one of the best for
the purpose, after q few rains have
fallen on II II the soil is benefited i'm.
mensely II the warren is on peaty
soil, peat burned to ashes and the re.
sultant spread well over the ground
serves the same purpose.
An excellent addition to the warren.
er's income is provided by planting
fruit trees at regular intervals, but
these must be carefully protected dur.
ing hard weather by rabbit.proof net
ting. otherwise rabbits viii gnaw the
bark and kill the trees. The fallen
fruit will be appreciated by "Brer
Rabbit" and will keep him in health;
and It will be found that the gathered
fruit will provide a good round sum
to credit. especially as years go on.
The area OF a rabbit farm. Of course,
depends upon circumstances. Moor.
land and heath or any poor land re-
quires a larger acreage TO carry a
given head of rabbits. The grass lands
are eminently suitable for this pur
pose. Easy reach of good markets
is most important consideration
and. while on this topic, the writer
would draw attention to II fact w"'ch
applies to winged game AS well &c. to
rabbits. Never attempt to find mar.
ket in an aristocratic residential town:
failing the metropolis, pick n manutac-
turing city If possible. These are
the places where game OF all sorts
commands tip.top prices In the for.
mer description Of town 1t is true a
higher class of people reside, but they
nave generally friends and relatives
who have shoots and who send them
presents of game and rabbits, and, be-
sides this, the gentlemen Of such fam.
lilies are asked here and there to
shoot, generally bringing home brace
or a leash OF birds shot by themselves
tor some one olsel; consequently
game does not find so good a market
as where manufacturers, their man
ayers, clerks and foremen reside. The
rabbit farmer should approach a relia.
Bile game dealer some time before his
killins season comes on and get him to
name Il top price per dozen for the
rabbits, explaining that they are war
rem bred and preserved, and heavy in
weight through the Belgian hare
blood introduced. Also that they will
be all clean killed, for the best plan
in this direction is to bolt the rabbits
into purse nets with ferrets, and in
passing we may note that the breed.
ing and sale OF ferrets can easily be
made profitable adjunct TO the rab-
bit warren The method of killing
leads us directly TO the question OF
earths, artificial or naturally formed.
The writer has found that a good plan
is to tip heaps OF sand or loan in diff
ferent parts of the warren. forming
hillocks, and to scatter over them
grass seeds, which can be gathered In
plenty from the hay lofts OF stables;
the grass soon sprouts after shower
of rain. and when the earth settles the
hunnies will form their burrows with
out help from anyone. In digging out
rabbits, II will be found that leaving
good openings and scattering the bot
tom soil brought up all over the ad.
jacent ground benefits It immensely.
The first year alone will show u mar
gin OF profit; but providing sufficient
stock is allowed 10 remain, 1t is the
following years which pay well. Let
the legitimate killing season be rigor-
ously observed from October ! to
February |, and the writer will guar
antee satisfactory results. This allows
four months for killing and eight
months for breeding.
February rabbits are mostly does in
kindle, and each one OF these destroyed
means a severe loss to the rabbit
farmer for next season. and. besides,
such animals are rightly regarded as
unfit for food. II any person works on
this system, a rabbit warren is one of
the most paying investments for a
country resident to take up. The wri.
ter Is acquainted with man near
Sheffield who has a large quantity of
rabbits on similar lines to these ad-
vised, In an old disused quarry, and
he makes the business pay we'll. All
depends upon common-sense in this
business. as in all others. Where In.
terest is taken, success is near at
hand.