In a day or two after they have been introduced to their new house they will be perfectly at home, and whether they thrive well or not depends entirely on you.
They are by no means dainty as to what they eat, provided it is green or vegetable food. Cabbage, lettuce, or turnip leaves, clover tops, carrots with the tops on, a little barley or oatmeal, corn or hay, makes up the full bill of fare for them.
Although some people say that rabbits require no water, it is better to be on the safe side, and give them plenty. It is true that they need but little during the summer, when they are fed almost entirely on green food; but in the winter, when they are living on hay and vegetables that have been stored, they certainly need as much liquid as other pets.
When the female has young—and she will have ten litters a year—she should have plenty of oatmeal and milk. Do not trouble or handle her at such times; but let her have her own way until the young are eight weeks old, when they should be taken from her, and put into a yard or hutch by themselves.
Be sure of one thing, boys, before you decide upon keeping any kind of pets—be perfectly certain that you are willing to devote to them all the time necessary to care for them, not feeding them too much for a few days, and then neglecting them almost entirely. Once positive that you are willing to do this, get all the pets your parents are willing you should keep, and you will find no slight degree of enjoyment in attending to the wants of the little fellows who are dependent on you.
[DIGGING FOR INDIAN RELICS.]
BY S. L. FREY.
In ancient times it was the custom to place in the grave or the tomb with the dead whatever had been most prized during life, perhaps with the idea that it could be carried by the spirit of the departed on its long journey to the unknown land. Whether we open the old graves of Greeks or Phœnicians, Germans, Norse vikings, Britons, Celts, or North American Indians, we are indebted to this early custom for much knowledge and light thrown upon the life of all these ancient peoples by the implements and ornaments that we find.