The Horse and the Country to Select 



likely to perform to his owner's satisfaction on 

 the racecourse. A blood hunter is a suitable 

 conveyance for some men. The following are a 

 few words which go to prove that in the aggregate, 

 despite the many changes all round, hunting ex- 

 penses have not increased to-day to what they 

 were in 1805. ''Nimrod" (Mr. C. W. Apperley, 

 the chief hunting collaborateur of that day) says : 

 ''Ten horses and a hack at Melton for twenty-five 

 weeks cost ;^6i5, los., or about £1^ los. per horse, 

 and his allowance for fourteen horses one year 

 at ;^i20o apparently includes summering the 

 animals." On the other side of the question, how- 

 ever, subscriptions have now more than doubled ; 

 there was no wire fund then, and the poultry and 

 other funds were not so large. 



Now as to the country in which to hunt, men 

 with sound ideas on the subject generally tell you, 

 ''every one should hunt from home if possible." 

 Assuming that the would-be fox-hunter is free and 

 independent, I refer him to the following lists. 

 There are grass countries and provincial or wood- 

 land countries. The late Major G. J. Whyte- 

 Melville tells us, " all countries are good in their 

 way — some have collars, all have sport." The 

 following works, however, give a full synopsis of 

 most of the best known fox-hunting countries: 

 Baily's "Annual Hunting Directory," 5s. (Vinton 

 and Co.) ; " Hunting," the Badminton Library 



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