Part 117 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROAST RABBIT.]

_Mode_.--Empty, skin, and thoroughly wash the rabbit; wipe it dry, line the inside with sausage-meat and forcemeat made by recipe No. 417, and to which has been added the minced liver. Sew the stuffing inside, skewer back the head between the shoulders, cut off the fore-joints of the shoulders and legs, bring: them close to the body, and secure them by means of a skewer. Wrap the rabbit in b.u.t.tered paper, and put it down to a bright clear fire; keep it well basted, and a few minutes before it is done remove the paper, flour and froth it, and let it acquire a nice brown colour. Take out the skewers, and serve with brown gravy and red-currant jelly. To bake the rabbit, proceed in the same manner as above; in a good oven, it will take about the same time as roasting.

_Time_.--A young rabbit, 35 minutes; a large one, about 3/4 hour.

_Average cost_, from 1s. to 1s. 6d. each. _Sufficient_ for 4 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to February.

THE HUTCH.--Hutches are generally placed one above another to the height required by the number of rabbits and the extent of the room. Where a large stock is kept, to make the most of room, the hutches may be placed in rows, with a sufficient interval between for feeding and cleaning, instead of being, in the usual way, joined to the wall. It is preferable to rest the hutches upon stands, about a foot above the ground, for the convenience of cleaning under them. Each of the hutches intended for breeding should have two rooms,--a feeding and a bed-room. Those are single for the use of the weaned rabbits, or for the bucks, which are always kept separate. The floors should be planed smooth, that wet may run off, and a common hoe, with a short handle, and a short broom, are most convenient implements for cleaning these houses.

STEWED RABBIT.

984. INGREDIENTS.--1 rabbit, 2 large onions, 6 cloves, 1 small teaspoonful of chopped lemon-peel, a few forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, 1 large tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup.

_Mode_.--Cut the rabbit into small joints; put them into a stewpan, add the onions sliced, the cloves, and minced lemon-peel. Pour in sufficient water to cover the meat, and, when the rabbit is nearly done, drop in a few forcemeat b.a.l.l.s, to which has been added the liver, finely chopped.

Thicken the gravy with flour and b.u.t.ter, put in the ketchup, give one boil, and serve.

_Time_.--Rather more than 1/2 hour. _Average cost_, 1s. to 1s. 6d each.

_Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.

_Seasonable_ from September to February.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LOP-EARED RABBIT.]

FANCY RABBITS.--The graceful fall of the ears is the first thing that is looked to by the fancier; next, the dewlap, if the animal is in its prime; then the colours and marked points, and, lastly, the shape and general appearance. The ears of a fine rabbit should extend not less than seven inches, measured from tip to tip in a line across the skull; but even should they exceed this length, they are admitted with reluctance into a fancy stock, unless they have a uniform and graceful droop. The dewlap, which is a fold of skin under the neck and throat, is only seen in fancy rabbits, after they have attained their full growth: it commences immediately under the jaw, and adds greatly to the beauty of their appearance. It goes down the throat and between the fore legs, and is so broad that it projects beyond the chin.

The difference between the fancy and common rabbit in the back, independent of the ears, is sufficient to strike the common observer. Fancy rabbits fetch a very high price; so much as five and ten guineas, and even more, is sometimes given for a first-rate doe. If young ones are first procured from a good family, the foundation of an excellent stock can be procured for a much smaller sum. Sometimes the ears, instead of drooping down, slope backwards: a rabbit with this characteristic is scarcely admitted into a fancy lot, and is not considered worth more than the common variety. The next position is when one ear lops outwards, and the other stands erect: rabbits of this kind possess but little value, however fine the shape and beautiful the colour, although they sometimes breed as good specimens as finer ones.

The forward or horn-lop is one degree nearer perfection than the half-lop: the ears, in this case, slope forward and down over the forehead. Rabbits with this peculiarity are often perfect in other respects, with the exception of the droop of the ears, and often become the parents of perfect young ones: does of this kind often have the power of lifting an ear erect. In the ear-lop, the ears spread out in an horizontal position, like the wings of a bird in flight, or the arms of a man swimming. A great many excellent does have this characteristic, and some of the best-bred bucks in the fancy are entirely so. Sometimes a rabbit drops one ear completely, but raises the other so neatly horizontally as to const.i.tute an ear-lop: this is superior to all others, except the perfect fall, which is so rarely to be met with, that those which are merely ear-lopped are considered as valuable rabbits, if well bred and with other good qualities.

”The real lop has ears that hang down by the side of the cheek, slanting somewhat outward in their descent, with the open part of the ear inward, and sometimes either backwards or forwards instead of perpendicular: when the animals stand in an easy position, the tips of the ears touch the ground. The hollows of the ears, in a fancy rabbit of a first-rate kind, should be turned so completely backwards that only the outer part of them should remain in front: they should match exactly in their descent, and should slant outwards as little as possible.”

The same authority a.s.serts that perfect lops are so rare, that a breeder possessing twenty of the handsomest and most perfect does would consider himself lucky if, in the course of a year, he managed to raise twelve full-lopped rabbits out of them all.

As regards variety and purity of colour an experienced breeder says:--

”The fur of fancy rabbits may be blue, or rather lead-colour, and white, or black and white, or tawny and white, that is, tortoisesh.e.l.l-coloured. But it is not of so much importance what colours the coat of a rabbit displays, as it is that those colours shall be arranged in a particular manner, forming imaginary figures or fancied resemblances to certain objects.

Hence the peculiarities of their markings have been denoted by distinctive designations. What is termed 'the blue b.u.t.terfly s.m.u.t' was, for some time, considered the most valuable of fancy rabbits. It is thus named on account of having bluish or lead-coloured spots on either side of the nose, having some resemblance to the spread wings of a b.u.t.terfly, what may be termed the groundwork of the rabbit's face being white. A black and white rabbit may also have the face marked in a similar manner, const.i.tuting a 'black b.u.t.terfly s.m.u.t.'

”But A good fancy rabbit must likewise have other marks, without which it cannot be considered a perfect model of its kind. There should be a black or blue patch on its back, called the saddle; the tail must be of the same colour with the back and snout; while the legs should be all white; and there ought to be dark stripes on both sides of the body in front, pa.s.sing backwards to meet the saddle, and uniting on the top of the shoulders at the part called the withers in a horse. These stripes form what is termed the 'chain' having somewhat the appearance of a chain or collar hanging round the neck.”

”Among thorough-bred fancy rabbits, perhaps not one in a hundred will have all these markings clearly and exactly displayed on the coat; but the more nearly the figures on the coat of a rabbit approach to the pattern described, the greater will be its value, so far, at least, as relates to colour. The beauty and consequent worth of a fancy rabbit, however, depends a good deal on its shape, or what is styled its carriage. A rabbit is said to have a good carriage when its back is finely arched, rising full two inches above the top of its head, which must be held so low as for the muzzle and the points of the ears to reach almost to the ground.”

STEWED RABBIT, Larded.

985. INGREDIENTS.--1 rabbit, a few strips of bacon, rather more than 1 pint of good broth or stock, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to taste, thickening of b.u.t.ter and flour, 1 gla.s.s of sherry.

_Mode_.--Well wash the rabbit, cut it into quarters, lard them with Blips of bacon, and fry them; then put them into a stewpan with the broth, herbs, and a seasoning of pepper and salt; simmer gently until the rabbit is tender, then strain the gravy, thicken it with b.u.t.ter and flour, add the sherry, give one boil, pour it over the rabbit, and serve. Garnish with slices of cut lemon.