Omaha daily bee., 1918-07-21

| the sale or the meat. ne tfOuDle Is
that the demand is greater than the
supply and all of the rabbit meat you
can raise will retail readily at IS
cents a pound"
Popular breeds raised by Omaha
fanciers are Rufus Red Belgian hares,
Checkered Giant, Dutch, Flemish
steel gray, New Zealand rabbits and
Angoras.
The best meat breed is the Belgian
hare, whose flesh is tender. The Flem-
ish giants run larger and will ma
ture to II pounds in nine months,
but the meat is coarser.
The raising of rabbits for meat con-
servation purposes is endorsed by the
Nebraska food administration and its
possibilities as a great source OF sup
ply for substitute for beef and pork
is recognized.
Come From Belgium.
Before the war the breeding and
raising of rabbits was the national in
dustry of Belgium. Rabbits were
raised by Belgians to supply the fam
lily larder with meat and this was
a great economic item in small coun-
try with a congested population. Be-
sides furnishing the national table
there was exported from the District
of Client, comprising the Province OF
East Flanders, to England, in 1913,
100000 pounds of dressed rabbit. AT
the same time there was exported un-
dressed rabbit skins to the value of
$2,000,000. This would indicate there
were eaten in that country during
that year at least l00,000,00O rabbits,
the meat supply for 100000 industri-
Gus persons. The number is arrived at
for the reason the value of rabbit
skin was 50 centimes in Belgian cur
rency, the equivalent of 10 cents in
American coin.
Since the war the vandal Huns have
confscated every rabbit in Belgium to
feed to the 68,000000 partially starved
people of Germany. The millions of
rabbits there have totally disappeared
as if they had never existed.
Americas growing fur industry, OF
which Omaha is an important center.
is creating a new value for rabbit
skins. The fur of the cottontail and
jack rabbit is too frail for commercial
use and has but inferior value. being
quoted last winter at 2 cents each, If
properly skinned and stretched.
About rs tons were marketed at this
price. Domestic skins are worth much
more, that of the white Siberian"
rabbit, which is the White Flemish
Giant, having an auction value OF 90
cents. Skins OF the Angora, Checkered
Giant, French Silver, Himalayan and
American Blue, bring fancy prices.
Fur May Be Dyed.
These furs are clipped and dyed and
are sold under trade names. The fur
of the Belgian hare, which produces
beautiful silky coat, has been dyed
and sold for years under the trade
name of Electric Seal"
American spotted giants make beau
tiful sets of fur, as do the Cham
pagne d'Argent and the Blue I'm
perial.
The Belgian hare is the raciest,
most spirited and pugnacious OF all
the rabbit breed. 1t is a mistake to
think the rabbit won't fight. When
they get in a fighting humor they can
put bull dog to shame for tenacity
and ferocity of attack. A local fan
cier put strange buck in with a
doe and started a real fight. The
doe nearly chewed the bucks ear
off, and the buck tried to eat the
doe without salt. The fancier, act
ing as peacemaker, tried to separate
the furious pair and then the fur real
ly began to fly. In minute they
both attacked him and had him licked
to FRAGILE in less time than it takes
to tell it.
Too Fat in New Zealand.
The New Zealand rabbit is about
the LATEST animal alive. All it will
do is to lazily lie from morning to
night and night to morning de-
veloping fat. 1t is too lazy to pro-
tect its young or to get out of the
way of danger. Cats and dogs are
the menace to the industry because