164 FOX-HUNTING 



spinney that is not a regular draw, you are 

 quite right to hold up the last two, and after 

 you have killed one to let the other go. Of 

 course, you will have to study the wishes of 

 covert-owners, and when they are keen about 

 your always rinding on their property, they very 

 naturally object to an unnecessary slaughter of 

 the innocents. If you are fortunate enough to 

 have some large woodlands that are well stocked 

 with foxes, the oftener you can hunt them the 

 better sport you will get later on. You ought 

 not to go in the open until all your large woods 

 have been well rattled, many of the foxes killed, 

 and the rest dispersed. You must not allow 

 your foxes to get it into their heads that a big 

 wood is a house of refuge, but rather that it is 

 a place of danger when hounds are about. It 

 is the making of a pack to have an occasional 

 day in the woods at the beginning of the season, 

 and they will be all the better when you take 

 them in the open. 



Every litter should be disturbed in turn, and 

 when you have been the round you can begin 

 again ; but in your second visit you must not 

 on any account hold them up. I have said I do 



