The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 8, 1900, Page 9

THE SUNDAY CALL Cxoerts Give the H B. C. Platt, m, s fAingeles, Ca e world Angeles »R A -~ n [ worth of hares, a fact at- e s of Wells, & v $14.000 or $15.000 we ave a id in Los Ar n February la : test of the g t afforded »pula most import s ever gi and con of B corporation isting of 1. f Los Apgeles and vic mals on ext 1 has been index the ily show rabbitry, in this sec- ¢ finest of- t be bought for les $ ary-hares, such as that sell on stock, t of a herd, T $75. thing two years ago the in Southern (¢ r about 50 breeders s immediate vicinity been The total ed during the pa ) per cent and dur- tonths the average over 40 per cent. Bel- 1 dainty on the tels and restau- 130,000. past 1 TRE of hares now be- 1 reduced to two Flemish The former as its o In this type the_ Leporine has been most ely preserved. He is a dark gray in cojor and attains a weight of about four- teen pounds at maturity—say at elght or nine months. This type is considered the best by most people for meat purposes, but this view is not entirely correct. The Flemish Giant is a loose-haired and loose- skinned animal and much of his bigness goes to waste when he is slaughtered. At least half is lost. Not more than a third of the Belgian is waste, and, moreover, the flesh of the Belgian is daintier and of a finer quality in every way. Thus a 7z large Belgian, say nfne pounds, would really dress for the market as great a quantity of meat as an average Flemish Glant, say one of twelve pourc > two principal types there ports” and freaks whi such as the which ¥ upc rieties. Having thus state ish t of the rnia I shall state some of t h occur to me for his popularity he everywhere. The first of these is his beauty. 1 shall dis- cuss this more at length in my description of the Belglan in a succeeding paragraph. The second is his docility and fondness for fondling. The Belgian makes a most at. tractive pet. He is intelligent, becomes ched to his owner, can readily be trained to pose and to come at cdll. He appreciates care and good treatment. The third reason is the interest aroused in every member of the family fortunate enough to own Belglans by observing the habits of the animal, especially of the# does in caring for their young. As in all wild animals (for the Belgian is really a wild animal domesticated) the mother love is ver rong. All their habits of life, the poses that they assume, their ways of communicating with each other, their care of their persons, etc., are intensely interesting. Every sound mind harbors a love for animals, and the wild traits, such as are shown in the Belgian, are those with which we are least familiar and which are therefore most intensely interesting. A fourth reason is the fascination of mating Individuals so as to secure best results in the progeny. This appeals to the sclentific turn In every thinking .man's brain. It is a well known fact that a type may be f produce mother, and ye as a thorou 1 the case than two 3 . W t, the has for any profound excitement of ¢ All of the founded in the more esthetic ses of the industry. Bes!de : is the com- mercial sidc so far, has uniformly afforded a profit. In this coun- try the highest profits ve been in th best stock, that taken up by the “fancy, so0 called. But as a producer of delicious meat the Belgian has no equal, for the size of the animal and the cost of meat- producing stock. The meat is all white, tender and sweet. It ‘has no “wild” flavor, but is very similar to the best chicken and turkey, with enough differ- ence to make it novel. One doe will read- ily produce six litters a year, averaging eight to the litter. These will average at birth three ounces in weight." In fourteen days they will increase in size five, or six times, then weighing from fifteen to twen- ty ounces. From this point they will gain a pound a month to five or six months. At maturity, from six to eight months, they will weigh eight or nine pounds each. This meat sells readily at % cents per pound dressed. Allowing one-third for waste a doe will produce in one year 252 pounds of meat, ready for the market and readily salable at 25 cents per pound. This amounts to $63. The first cost of the doe will not exceed $15 and her keeping for the year will be not more than $3/ This leaves a clear profit, over cost of animal story of the Belgian Hare and Best Methods for Raising and the original in- a very mod- ar exceeded and all, of at least $15 ment is still le It in some estin We must not lose sight of the value of the pelts, which are worth from 2 cents to §1 each, according to their beauty, the sold and the use In the East t wh ich the are seme exten: Igians principally for the puf- pose of manufacturing the hair of pelts into silk hats. They are also made into mittens, gloves, collarettes and cloaks for ladies’ and children’s wear. 4 me. . Dealers ha “plucking” by hairs -are remdved, jer- of the fur a rich, seal-brown col 1 luster. A ma- chine has recently ented which complishes the result without plucking, simply by ng off the dark tips of the fur. Thi ocess involves no coloring artificial dyeing, although there is another beautiful product, known “electric seal,” which comes from a process of dveing. The pelt of the up-to- date high type Belgian is worth several times as much as the pelt of the common class of Belgians. The merits of the individual specimen of the Belgian may be determined by a well- defined standard of excellence which has been agreed upon by leading fanciers the world over. This standard is based upon a scale in which 10 means perfection. The very finest specimens so far produced seore about $—under special care training for exhibition a score of considered good. The following is standard, with the number of *“‘points’ lowed to each subdivision: pr Points. Color—Rich rufus red (not dark smudgy . color) carrfed well down sides and hind quarters, and as little white under jaws as possible ceessene . Tic kilnl:——Ra'hllr wavy and plentiful . Shape—Body long, well tucked up flank, 20 1L ooded Stock By Charles C. Chapman, Los Angeles, California. ONE splendid - w > s . ? s > s s And well ribbed up back. slizhtly arched. . _'0 el ¥ Almos d by the National Belglan Hare T it in the above standard will of each hz This, as s, whi of the taf n tan, with The feet must front feet and st white v 11 be a deep he hind feet shade to ol describe It r bles mahogany, but h: a brighter ter. It is like a wine color. but not as C°7 deep a shade. It might be called maroon, 2! 1% but is a little darker. Whatever it may be called, It gives a finish to the whole effect as yet rarely seen upon Belgians country. In any way that you niously blended colc his coat is a marv four months of age he on a permanent coat whi at eight months, but w beautiful shades in his appears at about the twe y condense snow advice f well arranged qu your purse w secure best foundat inable, ving reference rather than quantity. Care for them constantly Improve the progeny by judicious mating and success awaits you One of the best. unexplored flelds open to the breeder of Belgians to-day is . where meat is worth $1 a pot difficult to get at that. The Bel not injured by cold. animal and nev death, and If prot draughts will do w The young are born shielded in a neat nest ¢ mother and lined with fur pluck her own breast. In two weeks ‘they velop a fine, soft, lustrous coat. The hare is by nature a browsing animal and wiil live upon barks, buds, brush and ecearse sticks, which serve his purposes almost as well as corsets, tin cans and rock piles serve the donkey and the goat. The man who takes a hundred breeding does and five or six bucks Into Alaska will have a better thing in their product than the best mine on the Klondike.