lo CENTURY OF ENGLISH FOX-HUNTING 



fox-hunting. Take the average life of a horse in the 

 hunting-field at five years, and the average price paid 

 for him at ;i^ioo, and we find that ;{^300,ooo is spent 

 annually on hunters, a large proportion of which must 

 go into the pockets of the breeder, i.e. the farmer. 

 Again, every one of these 15,000 horses costs in 

 fodder, at the lowest estimate, ten shillings a week ; 

 i-e. iJ^7,500 is spent weekly, or ;i^390,ooo per annum, 

 on fodder for hunters, out of which sum at least 

 i^3 50,000 goes into the pockets of the farmer, leaving 

 the handsome sum of ^40,000 as commission for corn 

 factors, corn dealers, et hoc genus onme. It will be 

 seen that in the above statistics I have taken no 

 notice of the enormous number of horses, such as 

 covert hacks, trappers, and general utility horses, 

 which would never be bred, purchased, and kept if it 

 were not for hunting. I shall make no mention of 

 the keep of hounds, nor shall I allude to the 

 numerous Horse Shows, promoted by hunting men, 

 in this chapter. But nobody can with truth deny 

 that these form details of financial profit, which goes 

 into the pockets of large farmers. Unfortunately the 

 number of these farmers is annually decreasing, 

 though it is agreed on all sides that extended stock- 

 farming is the chief remedy for depression. Sir 

 Matthew Ridley, in the autumn of 1887, at Black- 

 pool, described it as " the best remedy." The 

 Chancellor of the Exchequer, at Seaham, during the 

 same year, stated that " the future of agriculture in 

 this country depended really on the breeds of stock." 



