340 LEAVES FROM A HUNTING DIARY 



robbing the farmer of a profit which ought to be his, and his alone, are the half-dozen 

 trusses, tops and bottoms, perhaps a streaky one or two included in the load, for whicli 

 tJiey pay top price, and which trusses the hay merchant eliminates. 



Keeping, as the majority of hunting men, who have to buy liay, do, no 

 stock, or cart horses, they have absolutely no use for dusty, coarse, or 

 mouldy hay : it has to be thrown away. Therefore, let those farmers 

 whom it concerns take the friendly hint of one who knows. By all means 

 charge hunting-men tip-top prices for their hay, but let it be tip-top stuff, 

 keeping all the inferior trusses for the consumption of their own stock. 



In the figures which have been given, the army of paid servants, grooms, 

 coachmen, &c., except those allowed to the different hunting establish- 

 ments, have not been dealt with. Let us not lose sight, however, of the 

 sum total of their weekly wages, which they spend in the neighbourhood, 

 conferring great benefits upon numbers of small tradesmen. Where can 

 the saddler, blacksmith, and coach-builder, find a better friend than the 

 hunting man, while more indirectly affected are the grocer, butcher, and 

 baker who supply the big house, which with hunting abolished would 

 probably be tenantless. 



Collectors of poor rates, very often farmers or their connections, quickly 

 realise the difference of country houses without tenants and country houses 

 with them. But perhaps the modern Collectivist objects to the whole 

 thing, and says : " Nothing but waste ; if this money was not spent upon 

 hunting it would be spent upon something else more useful." Not at all ! 

 The very foundation of an Englishman's character is love of sport, and if 

 he could not obtain it at home he would soon go elsewhere (we live in a 

 free land at present, thank God), Asia, Africa or America. 



We have dealt with the money side of the question ; there arises another 

 of not less importance in connection with the hunting field, and that is the 

 splendid training ground it affords for our cavalry officers. We have the 

 authority of the great Duke for this, bringing out as it does the qualities 

 so essential for what has well been termed the eyes of the army — prompti- 

 tude, self-reliance, judgment and nerve. 



Is not hunting, too, the life of the countryside during the long winter 

 months, as popular with peasant as with peer '? The ploughman and the 

 hedger all enjoy the fun of the gay scene, a.nd pick up many a shilling for small 

 services rendered in the field. It is the one bright spot of colour and life in 

 the dull dreary routine of rural existence, away from crowded towns and 

 their countless attractions, when days are short and nights are long, and 

 it will be a long time before a pastime so deeply rooted in the hearts and 

 affections of the country folk will be allowed to die out, though we may 

 live to see the day when it will be carried out under different conditions. 



We have been frost-bound since I last wrote, but on Saturday, 

 January 12th, a bitter blast set in from the S.E. Although the thermo- 

 meter marked 7 degrees of frost at the time, even those who cared least 

 about skating thought that a change was coming. All awoke up on Sunday 

 to find the snow piled up in fantastic drifts and the ground still frozen. By 

 midday a cold thaw set in. Hunting was, however, impossible on Monday, 

 and the harriers could not take the country on Tuesday ; but on Wednesday 

 there was nothing to prevent hunting, though I was unable to be present 

 myself, owing to the sad loss of a faithful and valued servant.^ 



On Sunday, January 13th, a great coat was a burden ; on Monday it was 

 a necessity, unless you kept the machinery in constant motion by violent 

 exercise— horse or other. On Sunday sweet-scented wallflowers were not 



' Thumas Butcher. 



