40 



numerous woodland, this is a question that does not 

 have to be considered, but in the shires it is a matter 

 that has to be carefully thought out by master and 

 huntsman. Unless hounds are taught to go into thick 

 covert and push out their foxes, they will acquire 

 the habit of standing about the rides and waiting for 

 the signal of " gone away." The result will be that 

 in future coverts are never properly drawn, and, worse 

 still, the pack cannot be trusted to follow a tired fox 

 that is crawling about dense undergrowth as a last 

 resource. 



It must not, however, be forgotten that cub-hunting 

 is, after all, merely an education and a rehearsal for 

 the serious business later on. Hounds have to be 

 taught they must force their foxes away, but they 

 must realize the hard work entailed is the prelude to 

 the pleasure of a run in the open. When once their 

 fox is away, the quicker they are out of covert the 

 more likely they are to catch him. If you were always 

 to go away with the first cub, a litter would never get 

 properly hustled, and the best cubs would be killed, 

 whilst the less adventurous yn^ouM escape. At the 

 same time, it is liable to sicken hounds and make 

 them slack in leaving covert, when they are con- 

 tinually being stopped after forcing a fox away. 

 Never to hold up and go away with the last cub is a 

 sound principle for a grass country : but can you 

 always be certain which is the last cub ? With all 

 due deference to the opinions of great authorities, I 

 consider it very detrimental to a pack, which, after 

 several have left, eventually settle to one cub and 

 drive him to the open only to be stopped, taken back, 

 and then find all the others have gone away. 



