FARMING AND FOXHUNTING 



believe this will prove an economic remedy in the 

 end. Now it is very curious how the population 

 of foxes has increased since the development of the 

 poultry industry. Another case of Nature correcting 

 the balance. Is not that so ? 



A. H. : No, if that's a fact, I would rather say 

 that the Hunts are not doing their job as efficiently 

 as they were. Talking about poultry claims, there 

 are a good many of us who never put in a claim for 

 poultry losses. I haven't calculated just how many 

 birds I lose by foxes in the course of the year, but 

 I know that some years ago I had to put up a 6-ft. 

 wire round my hen houses to stop their daylight 

 raids and give the hens a quiet time. I remember 

 the M.F.H. was rather taken aback when I told 

 him that I had just given the Hunt a handsome 

 subscription of :£^40. What would you say to the 

 man who wrote me this letter the other day ? He 

 says : "I would like you to call attention to the 

 damage done by foxes in this country. I am a 

 lover of hunting and have often ridden to hounds 

 when farming was a different proposition than it 

 is to-day. I agree that rabbits do unspeakable 

 damage to crops, but when war is raging and our 

 food supplies are limited we can then fall back on 

 rabbits, but would you care to eat Mr. Reynard ? 

 He has a strong scent when alive and I think the 

 flavour would be rather gamey. Foxes, like every- 

 thing else, are all very well in their place. There 

 are far too many in this district. They should all 

 be confined to enclosures and one let out a few days 

 before the Hunt comes over the district, and a 



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