148 THE RABBIT 



and after the shoot all traces of paraffin should be 

 removed. 



If paraffin is not to be obtained just when wanted, 

 spirits of tar will answer the purpose. One who has 

 tried it recommends the use of a rope's end frayed 

 out, soaked in paraffin, and lighted at the windward 

 holes of the burrows. 



The use of sulphur is not to be recommended, for 

 two reasons : if only a moderate dose be applied, it 

 will cause a rabbit not merely to bolt, but to desert 

 the hole for ever ; while if the fumes are too strong, 

 the result will be suffocation on the spot. 



Some keepers dispense with ' stopping ' and con- 

 tent themselves with sticking the pegs in front of the 

 holes two clear nights before the coverts are shot. 

 Our late friend, Mr. T. J. Mann, of Hyde Hall, Saw- 

 bridgeworth, one of the most practical sportsmen that 

 ever lived, had another plan which he found to be very 

 effectual, and he thus described it for the benefit of 

 readers of The Field. ' Two days before we shoot the 

 woods,' he said, 'the keepers take a lined ferret on the 

 back of which is smeared a strong solution of asafoe- 

 tida. The ferret is then worked a short way into all 

 the holes which can be got at. The good sport subse- 

 quently obtained in the rough meadows round the 

 woods affords the best criterion as to the success 



