142 The Hunting Field With Horse and Hound 



the present management to even a higher rank than ever. For- 

 tunate also is the pack for having as the jNIaster, Sir Gilbert 

 Greenall, who takes a practical and personal interest in the 

 breeding and mating of the hounds and has given as much care 

 and attention to maintain the high standard of the pack as any 

 of its former noble Masters. He is also one of the largest 

 breeders of horses in England and his experience in the stable, 

 no doubt, has been of great use to him in the kennels. 



Fortunate, indeed, has been this family pack to have had 

 so few huntsmen, and all men who have strictly adhered to a line 

 of breeding that has given such satisfactory results. It must 

 be remembered that at the same time, hundreds of Masters and 

 huntsmen were proceeding on similar lines or lines of their 

 own; all in the keenest and most sportsmanlike rivalry to 

 obtain this improvement; all with an ideal foxhound in their 

 mind's eye, to which standard of e*xcellence they were striving 

 to elevate their packs. To "win out" in a contest of this 

 measure is a distinction that may well be looked upon with 

 pride by any fox hunting man or hound fancier in the world. 



Two hundred years is a long time to work and strive and 

 wait, and still there is room for improvement, for out of over 

 100 puppies sent yearly to "walk" from the Belvoir Kennels, 

 not more than one in three is found perfect enough to meet 

 the required standard, as they are judged on the flags. Of tliis 

 select number, another "draft" is made of hounds that for 

 some fault or other, or because they do not work in harmony 

 with the pack, are also weeded out, so that for a year's crop of 

 puppies fifteen or twenty couple is the most that can possibly 

 hope to become working members of that honoured band. Still, 

 indifferent as these drafted hounds may be, they are all be- 

 spoken for, five or six years in advance. 



During the year, the kennels are visited by Masters and 

 huntsmen from all over Great Britain, who make a yearly 

 pilgrimage hither to see the new entry come in, discuss hound 



