INTRODUCTION 23 



the number of poachers ; but it is within my province 

 to prove how the popularity of fox-hunting, fostered 

 by enterprising journaHsts and editors, has been 

 detrimental to agriculture. I confess that I approach 

 this portion of my subject with much diffidence, for 

 I believe that the public interest in fox-hunting, if 

 directed into proper channels, would contribute to- 

 wards agricultural prosperity. Unfortunately, this 

 interest has been directed into improper channels. It 

 has been a constant complaint that the fashionable 

 meets of hounds are attended by crowds of foot- 

 people and cyclists, whose only motives are idle 

 curiosity and the eclat of saying afterwards that they 

 have been out with hounds. I commend their ambi- 

 tion to see hounds, though I wish that they would 

 learn the rudiments of " the noble science." There 

 was a time, not more than five years ago, when the 

 foot-people were the sons and daughters of the soil : 

 now they are the outpourings of excursion trains. 

 It is hardly necessary for me to state that these out- 

 pourings spoil sport, but it is necessary to state that 

 they spoil land, and that their spoliations are con- 

 sidered as the result of hunting. It is futile to argue 

 that the consideration is illogical. The stern fact 

 remains that these people attend the meets and cause 

 damage to the land through ignorance. I do not 

 suggest that their actions, which arouse the animosity 

 of the farmer, are done with any sinister intention, 

 and I believe that if any method could be devised by 

 which their ardour could be kept under control, the 



