THE BILLESDON HUNT. 7 



sidence of fair pretensions, Is evidence In- 

 contestable of the benefits the farmers In 

 the neighbourhood derive from foxhunting. 

 In Mr Tailby's country, as It is well 

 known, there are many fences formidable 

 enough to stop any man or any horse, but 

 they are visible, and therefore legitimate. 

 The progress' that has been made in the 

 art of drainincr Is manifest in the o^reater 

 soundness of the land, contributing vastly 

 to the convenience of horses ; this refers to 

 the county generally. The pasture fields 

 are greatly improved, though occasionally 

 you come to some arable land deep and 

 distressing ; but the old system of ridge 

 and furrovv^ on those soils appears to be 

 gradually decreasing, from the modern in- 

 fluences of the draining engineer. Never- 

 theless, the pasture fields, the surfaces of 

 which have never been disturbed in the 

 memory of the present generation, still 

 present the ridge and furrow, which, when 



