FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



Great Britain. From the time that the local 

 Squires kept their private packs until the present, 

 more and more people have benefitted directly 

 or indirectly from the sport. If we leave out 

 those who actually enjoy the latter, there are few 

 tradesmen, dealers, labourers, and the like, who 

 do not derive a goodly portion of their annual 

 income from business connected with the interests 

 of the Hunt. The presence of hunting in the 

 Shires and other fashionable countries brings an 

 influx of monied people who spend freely, and this 

 money finds its way by devious channels into the 

 pockets of those who are in trade or labour with 

 their hands. The Hunt is a going concern in 

 which much capital is invested, and is therefore 

 respected by the community. Since the in- 

 stitution of the recognised county packs, the 

 more fashionable Hunts have attracted larger 

 and larger fields, until to-day they are at a 

 maximum. This, in addition to the enclosing 

 of the country and the planting of conveniently 

 situated coverts, has had its effect on the fox 

 which is the primary object of the whole business. 



As we have already mentioned, in the old days 

 the country was much less enclosed, coverts were 

 larger and further apart, while the stock of foxes 

 was a drop in the ocean compared to what it is 

 now. Those who hunted took a lively interest 

 in the work of hounds and the science of the 

 sport, and could sympathise with the huntsman 

 on a blank day, as well as enjoy the perseverance 

 of himself and his hounds when scent was only 

 moderate and difficulties cropped up. 



In the more fashionable countries to-day, only 

 a small percentage of the large number of followers 

 are really interested in hound work or know 

 anything of the science of hunting. The chief 



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