are blunt and rugged, the ears dry and tough, and the haunch
thick, it is old. But if the claws are smooth and sharp, the ears easily
tear, and the cleft in the lip is not much spread, it is young. If fresh
and newly killed, the body will be stiff, and in hares the flesh is
pale. They keep a good while by proper care, and are best when rather
beginning to turn, if the inside is preserved from being musty. To
distinguish a real leveret from a hare, a knob or small bone will be
discovered near the foot on its fore leg.----_Tame rabbits_ may be bred
with much success and ornamental effect in a small artificial warren, in
a lawn in the garden, made in the following manner. Pare off the turf of
a circle about forty feet diameter, and lay it on the outside; then dig
a ditch within this circle, the outside perpendicular, the inner
sloping, and throw earth sufficient into the middle to form a little
hill, two or three feet higher than the level of the lawn; the rest must
be carried away. Then lay down the turf on the hill, and beat it well to
settle. The ditch at bottom should be about three feet wide, and three
and a half deep, with two or three drains at the bottom, covered with an
iron grate, or a stone with holes, to carry off the hasty rains, in
order to keep the rabbits dry. In the outside bank should be six
alcoves, the sides and top supported, either by boards or brick-work, to
give the rabbits their dry food in; by their different situations some
will always be dry; six boxes or old tea-chests, let into the bank will
do very well. If the ground be very light, the outside circle should
have a wall built round it, or some stakes driven into the ground, and
boards or hurdles nailed to them, within a foot of the bottom, to
prevent the bank from falling in. The entrance must either be by a board
to turn occasionally across the ditch, or by a ladder. The turf being
settled, and the grass beginning to grow, turn in the rabbits, and they
will immediately go to work to make themselves burrows in the sides, and
in the hill. By way of inducing them rather to build in the sides, to
keep the turf the neater, make a score of holes about a foot deep, and
they will finish them to their own mind; and if there be a brick wall
round it, it should be built on pillars, with an arch from each, to
leave a vacancy for a burrow. Lucern, parsley and carrots are very
proper food for them; and they should also be fed upon some of the best
upland pa