24 THOUGHTS ON HUNTING 



hunting-season. A horse fresh killed is an excellent meal for hounds, after 

 a very hard day ; but they should not hunt till the third day after it. The 

 bones broken are good food for poor hounds, as there is great proof 1 in them. 

 Sheep-trotters are very sweet food, and will be of service when horse-flesh is 

 not to be had. Bullocks' bellies may be also of some use, if you can get 

 nothing else. Oatmeal, I believe, makes the best meat for hounds : barley 

 is certainly the cheapest ; and in many kennels they give barley on that 

 account ; but it is heating, does not mix up so well, nor is there so much proof 

 in it as in oatmeal. If mixed (an equal quantity of each), it will then do 

 very well ; but barley alone will not. Much also depends on the goodness 

 of the meal itself, which is not often attended to. If you do not use your 

 own, you should buy a large quantity of it any time before harvest, and keep 

 it by you : there is no other certainty, I believe, of having it old ; which is 

 more material, perhaps, than you are aware of. I have heard, that a famous 

 Cheshire huntsman feeds his hounds with wheat, which he has found to be 

 the best food : he gives it them with the bran. It would cause no little 

 disturbance in many neighbourhoods, if other sportsmen were to do the 

 same. 



I am not fond of bleeding hounds, unless they want it ; though it has 

 long been a custom in my kennel to physic them twice a year ; after they 

 leave off hunting, and before they begin : it is given in hot weather, and at 

 an idle time : it cools their bodies, and, without doubt, is of service to them. 

 If a hound be in want of physic, I prefer giving it in balls. 2 It is more easy 

 to give in this manner the quantity that he may want, and you are more 

 certain that he takes it. In many kennels they also bleed them twice a 

 year ; and some people think that it prevents madness. The anointing of 

 hounds, or dressing them, as huntsmen call it, makes them fine in their 

 coats : it may be done twice a year, or of tener, if you find it necessary. As 

 I shall hereafter have occasion to write on the diseases of hounds, and their 

 cures, I will send you at the same time a receipt for this purpose. During 

 the summer months, when my hounds do not hunt, they have seldom any 

 flesh allowed them, and are kept low, contrary, I believe, to the usual practice 

 of most kennels, where mangey hounds, in summer, are but too often seen. 

 Huntsmen sometimes content themselves with checking this disorder, when 

 with less trouble, perhaps, they might prevent it. A regular course of whey 

 and vegetables, during the hot months, must certainly be wholesome, and 

 is, without doubt, the cause that a mangey hound is an unusual sight in my 

 kennel. Every Monday and Friday my hounds go for whey, till the hunting 

 season begins ; are kept out several hours ; and are often made to swim 

 through rivers, during the hot weather. After the last physic, and before 



* ' Nourishment. 



1 One pound of antimony, four ounces of sulphur, and syrup o f buckthorn q. s. to give 

 it the consistency of a ball. Each ball weighs about seven drachms. 



