THE FARMERS. 147 



on the part of the tarnieis. It is difficult to Hmit the number of followers in 

 the field, as it would be an unpleasant duty thrown upon the Master if he had 

 to request strangers to retire ; but there can be no doubt that all followers 

 who are not members should be out only on the invitation of a member. 

 The Wirral Harriers have recently had to take up this matter seriously, and 

 have made a rule restricting their members from freely inviting their friends 

 to come out with the hounds. 



2nd. That those beaglers who keep horses do not purchase their 

 provender direct from farmers of their district, but go to the middleman who 

 buys his supplies anywhere. We have but few members of this comfortable 

 description, and most, if not all, of these do buy their provender from neigh- 

 bouring farmers, but of course they cannot give all their neighbours a turn. 

 If this meets the eye of any beagler who does not buy his provender from 

 farmers, it is to be hoped he will mend his ways. It is an axiom with all 

 hunts that the members should obtain their supplies from their own district. 



3rd. The breaking offences and making of gaps are serious annoyances 

 to the farmer, and the experienced beagler will carefully avoid this fault 

 whenever possible, and also caution others about the same. Some parts of 

 our country are specially difficult to travel ; we often come across a hedge 

 which offers no hole to creep through, or fenced gap to get over, and we all 

 know the infernal skill with which the hedgers of Wirral make up their fences 

 in preparation for the hunting season, the gaps filled with a hurdle, which, if 

 not too weak or rotten to support the full-sized beagler, always leans over the 

 ditch in the most awkward manner towards the oncomer. Where the gaps 

 are tilled up with dead brambles, &:c., these often get pushed aside by the 

 passage of twenty or thirty beaglers, and it should be the care of all to 

 replace these brambles and make good the fence. We can only say that the 

 farmers are very good-natured about this, and, after we have gone, replace a 

 broken rail or crushed hedge without saying much about it. 



4th. Leaving gates open is a common offence, and one for which there 

 is no excuse. This fault is only committed by inconsiderate strangers and 

 unlicensed followers, as we cannot believe that any beagler, after his first 

 season, will be found guilty of such a flagrant misdemeanour. 



5th. "'Ware! wheat and clover!" In wet spring weather, a farmer 

 expects all horsemen to avoid riding over wheat or clover root. With fox- 

 hounds and harriers the cry of '"Ware wheat!" or "'Ware clover!" is 

 familiar enough ; the horse's hoof makes a deep hole which holds water and 

 rots the root of the plant. Beaglers on foot cannot do much harm in this 

 respect, but still the farmer likes to see his property treated with considera- 

 tion, and it is advisable to go round fields containing these crops. 



6th. In the lambing season, the farmer is rightly annoyed if his ewes 

 are much chased about. \\'hen the hounds enter a field containing a large 

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