FARMERS AND WIRE. 361 



damaged fences, loss of poultry or, rarely, ' wire offences.' 

 There is no better known figure in Gloucestershire 

 than that of Colonel Henry on his hack, one of his own 

 breeding by the way, which carries him on his long 

 rides ; he is wont to say that in dealing with a grievance 

 'one visit is worth a dozen letters.' His geniality, 

 and the painstaking care with which he investigates 

 every matter to which his attention is called, dissipate 

 at their beginning many difficulties which, handled with 

 less sympathetic diplomacy, would ' come to a head ' 

 and produce the friction which tells against sport. 

 Landowners, farmers, and business men alike in the 

 Badminton country are keen supporters of fox-hunting, 

 and their attitude towards the sport is due in no small 

 degree to the unremitting attention and care for their 

 interests displayed by the honorary secretary both in 

 winter and summer." The truth of Colonel Henry's 

 remark that one visit is worth a dozen letters, was 

 exemplified to me the other day by an old lady, a 

 farmer's wife, who regretted the sad change in 

 " hunting people " since her young days, when they 

 " used to come in and chat with me as affable as could 

 be." She mentioned the name of Mr. Wroughton, who 

 partook of some of her " cowslip wine," and so much 

 was she impressed with the visit that every small 

 detail of it, even the year, month, day and hour, and 

 also where he sat in her parlour, remains a treasured 

 memory. He made a friend who will always speak of 

 him in the highest terms, because he was nice and 

 civil to her, and it seems to be a matter for regret 



