140 THE DIARY OF A HUNTSMAN 



that they are all blocked up, and therefore often 

 go straight away. But, according to the old plan 

 of merely stopping the earths in a certain quarter 

 of the country the day it is hunted, when a straight, 

 good run does happen, and the hounds deserve their 

 fox, he goes to ground beyond the distance stopped 

 for the day ; although probably, had he not been 

 able to get into the earth, he would have con- 

 siderably increased the day's sport by going on 

 some miles and being killed, which certainly is 

 required to make a good run perfect — and all go 

 home satisfied. In the next place, it is the best 

 preventive against blank days ; for, as before 

 stated, many foxes nearly always lie underground, 

 in bad weather particularly. Nothing is more 

 common than when a fox is dug out to find a 

 brace, or even more ; and if these are found in 

 earths so weak as to be broken up, how very much 

 more likely is it that there are foxes in the main 

 earths ? Which accounts for every cover in a part 

 of a country being drawn blank a few days only 

 after snow, during which foxes were padded about 

 in all directions, and no doubt were in the earths 

 at the time the country was drawn blank. 



The disadvantages of having earths are so much 

 greater than the advantages, that if every earth in 

 the country was done away with it would be a 

 benefit to fox-hunting, even as respects the breed- 



