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bill ties by subscribing the lowest Kmit. There are many 

 expenses incidental to hunting — horses, fodder, and 

 stable labour are heavy items nowadays ; but subscrip- 

 tions should always have first call and be paid before 

 bank balances have been drained by other sources. 



Subscriptions are due on the first of November, and 

 no one should feel happy in following a pack until he 

 has sent his cheque to the secretary. The custom of 

 putting oS the payment for an indefinite period has 

 become general, with the result that men sometimes find 

 they have spent too much on stable expenses and have 

 only a meagre sum left for the hunt funds. We are all 

 rather inchned to put off payment of dues which do not 

 demand instant settlement, and it might be to the 

 advantage of all concerned if it became a rule that sub- 

 scriptions should be paid at the commencement of the 

 season. 



The hounds and hoi'yes of a hunt establishment, it 

 should be remembered, have to be kept the whole year 

 round, and not only for the season. Those who come 

 down for hunting when the season opens are dependent 

 for their sport on the condition of the inmates of the 

 hunt kennels and stables, which means a considerable 

 outlay during the summer months. This expense is 

 usually borne by those good sportsmen, the Masters, 

 who consent to pay heavily for the position and the 

 privilege of providing others with their sport. 



Apart from the hunt estabhshment, there are many 

 items in the management of a country that have in- 

 creased largely in the last few years. Without statistics 

 of the poultry kept in 1925 and in the years previous 

 to the war, it can only be guessing to make a com- 

 parison, but I should estimate the numbers to be at 

 least ten times more now than formerly. Foxes in some 



