THE FOXHOUND 181 



One of the most important questions a Master may have to 

 decide is the maintenance of his pack by breeding or by the 

 purchase of drafts. It is a curious but well-known fact that some 

 hunts never can " breed " with the slightest measure of success, 

 and if the Master has a buyer upon whom he can depend, or 

 has himself a natural eye for a hound and the means of obtaining 

 reliable information, the purchase of drafts saves an infinite amount 

 of trouble. A draft may consist either of unentered puppies 

 (these can usually be seen and obtained at the annual puppy 

 show of a leading pack, for often double the number required 

 are then returned from their " walks ") or of working hounds 

 discarded for being too fast, too slow, or for some other fault. 

 Of course, in buying such it is of the utmost importance to 

 obtain correct information as to the real reason. 



Should the Master decide upon breeding his own hounds, he 

 is adopting a most troublesome but most interesting course, and 

 before attempting it he should make a careful study of the best 

 Foxhound strains, observe results already obtained by others, and 

 ever keep in mind that certain strains may be invaluable for 

 one country but not at all suitable for his. Should he decide 

 upon breeding from ten bitches and has at all a wide choice, 

 let them be as good as he can find for the work they have to 

 do. The dam has usually a great influence over the field qualities 

 of her progeny, and if the bitch has peculiar value for the country 

 in which she hunts, breed from her by all means, even if she in 

 appearance leaves something to be desired ; only in this case be 

 careful to select a sire who in bodily conformation is extra strong 

 in those points where the bitch is weak, and at the same time 

 does not possess field peculiarities which would counter-balance 

 the virtues of the bitch, for it is a lamentable fact that faults 

 are more readily inherited than virtues. To make the point quite 

 clear, for it is important, we will suppose you are hunting a cold 

 plough country, and you have a bitch of rare value on those days 

 when hounds seem almost unable to hunt one who sticks to 

 a line and picks it out when it has been foiled by sheep or made 

 almost unacknowledgable by cold snow-showers, but this bitch 

 is very slow, has wide open feet, and is wanting in bone. Well, 

 naturally you will select for her a hound remarkable for his legs, 

 good feet, and with some pace; but do not suppose that a "wild," 

 "skirting," "self-hunting," or "false," hound can be used with 

 impunity, trusting to the bitch to correct these imperfections in 

 the progeny. On the contrary, confirm her good points by an 

 alliance with a true line-hunting hound, and so far as possible 

 obliterate her faults by seeing that he has drive and speed in the 

 field and irreproachable legs and feet, and also, what is still more 

 important, see that such characteristics are inherent. 



