64 



kept up. With distemper and other diseases to which 

 young hounds are subject, an indifferent kennel man 

 may lose the better part of his young entry. 



The hunt that owns their pack, therefore, possess a 

 very imstable property, which is ahvays liable to 

 depreciation and may in a short time become worthless. 



Perhaps the greatest difficulty in taking over a pack 

 at a valuation is in assessing the value, and it is more 

 difficult to-day than it was forty years ago. No one 

 then ever thought of breeding from a hound entirely on 

 account of his or her appearance and the result was every 

 member of a pack could be reUed on to be an efficient 

 worker, so that it was safe to judge them entirely by 

 the eye, that is if as a whole they had a good reputation 

 for performance. To-day there are really two standards 

 of value, the one for good looks and the other for good 

 hunting qualities. We rather fear that the former 

 commands the highest price at the moment. When a 

 single hound of exceptionally smart appearance makes 

 over three-hundred at the Rugby sales it is not easy to 

 estimate the value of others. 



In declaring a country vacant and open to applications 

 for the position of master, the hunt could always state 

 the price at which the hounds could be taken over. 

 Then, if the prospective master, after seeing them at 

 work in the field and giving them a careful scrutiny on 

 the " flags," did not consider them worth the amount, 

 he could decline. If the country thought it more import- 

 ant to obtain the services of a good man as master than 

 retain their pack, they could offer it for sale at public 



auction. 



•5. 



The unfortunate foxhound is subject to the fancies, 

 fads and prejudices of individuals. Some insist on a 

 particular colour that pleases the eye ; others require a 



