126 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



this territory, to say nothing of harriers, otterhounds, beagle 

 and staghounds. This will probably give the reader a very 

 correct idea of the popularity of hunting in England. It is 

 the national pastime for men after they leave school and col- 

 lege. It would be mere guesswork to estimate the milUons 

 of dollars expended yearly in England alone, for the indul- 

 gence of this noble and manly sport.* 



Fox hunting in England is a very expensive luxury, but 

 there are so many subscribers that the expense to an individual 

 member is not very great after all. It costs some of the grass 

 country packs £10,000 to £12,000, ($50,000 to $60,000) a 

 year. For instance, the Master of the Grafton receives a sub- 

 scription of £8,000 per year, and adds £3,000 per annum out 

 of his own pocket. This sum goes first for the maintenance of 

 the hunt, the mounting of the huntsman and the whippers-in, 

 the poultry fund — the hunt paying liberally all claims made for 

 poultry or lambs said to be destroyed by foxes. The hunt 

 also pays for the maintenance of certain coverts, the laying 

 down of others and the removal of wire fencing. 



As to the individual cost of hunting, it ranges from a free 

 ride for the farmer element of the hunt to as much as a swagger 

 chappie cares to spend. This applies to America as well as 

 England. 



A $125 hunter carries one man better than a $2,500 

 hunter carries another. For the man who has enough but 

 wishes to economise, a $500 hunter boarded at $20 per month 

 during the hunting season, pastured during the summer 

 and made to rough it during the winter — out of the hunting 

 season — may hunt once a week and enjoy more sport than the 



*In an article on "England and the English" in Scribner's Magazine 

 for March, 1909, the writer says: "An accepted authority upon all 

 matters of sport in England has compiled some figures as to the invest- 

 ment and expenditures upon sport. . . . Invested in fox hunting, $78,- 

 035,000 : spent annually for the same, $43,190,000. 



