no THE CONDITION OF HUNTERS 



the value of about an acre of ground to each horse 

 from the period of their being turned out until they 

 are taken into the stable again ; and mine, supposing 

 him to have consumed his acre of grass, and to have 

 had his two feeds of corn a day, since the time the 

 others were deprived of it, will have cost, in addition, 

 144 quarterns, or nine bushels of oats, and about one 

 and a half of beans, the expense of which does not 

 amount to more than two pounds. Now we will 

 suppose, for the sake of argument, that necessity 

 required that either one of my friend's horses, or my 

 own, were to have been exposed for sale in a week 

 from the time the comparison was made — what, may 

 I ask, would have been the result ? Why, I will 

 venture to assert without fear of contradiction, that 

 as two gentle sweats and some good wisping would 

 have made my horse look nearly as well as when in 

 work, he would have produced an addition of twenty- 

 five per cent, on his value beyond that of my neigh- 

 bour's ; and therefore, supposing them to be each 

 worth 100/. when in condition, he would have paid 

 25/. for having eaten a twelfth part of that value in 

 com. 



We may look at it in another light. If the condition 

 of my horse, by the superior firmness of his flesh, and 

 his increased vigour, be so much better in the month 

 of July or August, how much better still must it be 

 in the month of November, when he will be called 

 upon to follow hounds — particularly so, when in the 

 interval he has to go through that wonderful process 

 of nature, the change of his natural covering, or coat, 



