TO MASTERS OF HOUNDS 



the leaf is on the hedges, consequently 

 fences get pulled about, gaps are made, the 

 farmers' stock, especially the grass bullocks, 

 injured, and altogether much more damage 

 done by a few horsemen than is done by 

 many in regular hunting. In dry, hard 

 weather the hounds' feet get injured, and 

 in any weather at all they run a risk of 

 being spoilt. They check : no one is with 

 them, off go some of the entry after a hare, 

 taking most likely a few of the one- and 

 two-seasoned hunters with them, and in 

 about half-an-hour all the trouble you have 

 taken in breaking during the summer and 

 autumn is lost. Sport for the field cannot 

 be said to begin till November i, but it is in 

 the two or three months prior to this that a 

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