GROUND, BALLS, STICKS, GOAL-POSTS, ETC. 301 



better than they used to formerly, when the ground was fre- 

 quently hard. Breakdowns are not nearly so numerous inci- 

 dents which were not only expensive, but disheartening and, 

 lastly, the ground is safer to fall on, owing to its softness. 

 Directly play is over, about twenty men and boys are employed 

 to go all over the field and tread in any parts of the turf that 

 may have been cut up ; then the water is laid on, and the next 

 morning several hours' rolling makes the ground appear almost 

 as if it had never been played on. 



In Iskarado, Thibet, Baltistan, and Munnipore aptly 

 called the cradles of polo grounds vary considerably in shape 

 and size. In Baltistan, for instance, they play on grounds 

 about 150 yards long by 30 yards wide ; in fact, in many places 

 the polo ground is often the main street of the village. In 

 Kashmir grounds are some 350 yards long by 60 yards wide ; 

 those on which the Munnipoories play are some 225 yards 

 long by no yards wide Experience, however, tends to show 

 that a ground 300 yards by 180 yards is the size best adapted 

 to the game as now played in Great Britain, and where space is 

 available these dimensions are generally adhered to. 



We now come to the subject of balls. When the game was 

 first started in England it was played with ordinary hockey 

 sticks of bent ash or oak and a cricket ball painted white, after- 

 wards superseded by an indiarubber ball. This latter, however, 

 gave way to a wooden ball ; and in 1879 Mr. Holbrow, of Eagle 

 Place, Piccadilly, invented a cork ball covered with leather ; but 

 this proved a failure, being found to be too light. Even- 

 tually, balls made of willow wood were substituted, and these 

 have been considered the ' sealed pattern ' ever since. In India 

 balls made from bamboo root are always used, and these were 

 tried at Hurlingham, but they were not approved of generally. 

 The Munnipoories always use a ball made from the root of 

 bamboo, which they take considerable time and trouble in 

 seasoning and preparing ; but I question whether they are 

 better than the willow-wood ball, and are decidedly not so 

 suitable for the slower grounds of Britain, however much they 



