Page:Care and Management of Rabbits.djvu/171

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SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK

We can only touch upon the matter of breeding in a very casual way. It is a subject which has filled many books larger than this one. But in the main the laws of breeding applying to one form of plant life will be found to apply to another. It is certainly true that rabbits are subject to much the same laws as to breeding as are other kinds of live stock.

In the selection of the breeding stock depends all of the chances for future success, for the worth of the parent stock will determine more than anything else the worth of the offspring. Once in a while a litter will be so badly neglected that they will develop into nothing but scrubs, but that is not a fair comparison of the value of good breeding stock.

A pure bred rabbit will eat no more than a scrub. In fact, the scrub is often the best