OF BREEDING HOUNDS 27 



Behind he lags, doom'd to the fatal noose, 



His master's hate, and scorn of all the field. 



What can from such be hop'd, but a base brood 



Of coward curs, a frantic, vagrant race ? SOMEEVILLE. 



It is the judicious cross that makes the pack complete. 1 The faults and 

 imperfections in one breed may be rectified from another ; and, if this be 

 properly attended to, I see no reason why the breeding of hounds may not 

 improve till improvement can go no further. If you find a cross hit, pursue 

 it. 9 Never put an old dog to an old bitch. Be careful that they be healthy 

 which you breed from, or you are not likely to have a healthy offspring. 

 Should a favourite dog skirt a little, put him to a thorough line-hunting 

 bitch, and such a cross may succeed. My objection to the breeding from 

 such a hound is, that, as skirting is what most fox-hounds acquire from 

 practice, it had better not be made natural to them. A very famous sports- 

 man has told me, that he frequently breeds from brothers and sisters. As I 

 should be very unwilling to urge any thing in opposition to such authority, 

 you had better try it ; and if it succeed in hounds, it is more, I believe, than 

 it usually does in other animals. A famous cocker assured a friend of mine, 

 that the third generation, which he called a nick, he had found to succeed 

 very well, but no nearer. As I have neither tried one nor the other, I cannot 

 speak with any certainty about them. 



Give particular orders to your feeder to watch over the bitches with a 

 cautious eye, and separate such as are going to be proud, before it be too 

 late. The advances they make, frequently portend mischief as well as love, 

 and, if not prevented in time, will not fail to set the whole kennel together 

 by the ears, and may occasion the death of your best dogs : care only can 

 prevent it. 3 



Mark well the wanton females of thy pack, 

 That curl their taper tails, and frisking court 

 Their pyebald mates enamour'd ; their red eyes 

 Flash fires impure ; nor rest nor food they take, 

 Goaded by furious love. In sep'rate cells 

 Confine them now, lest bloody civil wars 

 Annoy thy peaceful state. SOMEEVILLE. 



I have known huntsmen perfectly ignorant of the breed of their hounds, from 

 inattention in this particular ; and I have also known many good dogs fall 

 a sacrifice to it. 



1 I have seen fox-hounds that were bred out of a Newfoundland bitch and a fox-hound 

 dog. They are monstrously ugly, are said to give their tongues sparingly, and to tire soon. 

 The experiment has not succeeded : the cross most likely to be of service to a fox-hound is 

 the beagle. I am well convinced, that a handsome, bony, tender-nosed, stout beagle would, 

 occasionally, be no improper cross for a high-bred pack of fox-hounds. 



2 After the first season, I breed from all my young dog-hounds who have beauty and 

 goodness to recommend them, to see what whelps they get. 



3 When the bitches are off their heat, they should be suffered to run about the house a 

 day or two, before they are taken out to hunt. 



