328 HUNTING PRELIMINARIES. 



HUNTING MEN AND FARMERS. 



Hunting is a sport which exists only by the good-will of 

 farmers, who usually obtain an adequate, though generally 

 indirect, return for permission to ride over their fields. In 

 parts (more in Ireland than in England) where the breeding of 

 hunters is an important agricultural industry, farmers are of 

 course alive to the advantage of hunting as a market for their 

 young half-breds. In the chief hunting districts of England, 

 the soil is often unsuitable for the breeding of " nag " horses, 

 on account of its poverty in lime, and consequently few 

 English farmers either breed hunters or ride them. In no 

 walk of life do we find enthusiasm for a sport among men 

 who do not take part in it. On the other hand, the large 

 majority of English farmers are Conservatives, and have a 

 great respect for their social superiors. Mr. Richard Ord tells 

 us in his Foxhunted s Vade Mecum that at least .7,500,000 is 

 spent every year on hunting in the United Kingdom. In 

 Midland fields, numbering from 200 to 400, there are many 

 hunting people who migrate for the season into the country and 

 spend in it a large amount of money, a good deal of which finds 

 its way into the pockets of farmers in exchange for supplies for 

 house, stable, and servants' food. A comparison between the 

 state of trade in Melton Mowbray during the season, with 

 what it is out of the season, will amply prove this fact 

 Besides, in hunting countries, oats and hay fetch at least 10 

 per cent, more than in non-hunting districts. Unfortunately 

 the advent of the motor car has to a great extent checked 

 the prosperity of many hunting centres, as several people 

 prefer to keep their horses only in them and motor back- 

 wards and forwards from town for their hunting. Farmers, 

 like other human beings, do not readily shape their conduct 

 according to general principles. Hence, the thought that 



