Fox-huntmg Past and Present 



school contends ''that plenty of blood is what 

 hounds want." And that three or four brace, 

 no matter how killed, is far better for the pack 

 than a single brace, each of which has fallen 

 a victim to sound persevering work. Without 

 blood, they contend, hounds soon become slack. 

 Later on, perhaps, there will be none too many 

 foxes. That huntsman is cleverest who can strike 

 the happy mean ; the intentional disappointment 

 of hounds should be avoided. 



In the early stages of cub-hunting it is occa- 

 sionally of great advantage to dig out foxes, 

 since it teaches hounds the indispensable accom- 

 plishment of marking to ground. There is a 

 theory that hounds taken away from an open 

 earth become disappointed, which is open to 

 doubt. They would and probably could under- 

 stand they had not been wholly outwitted by 

 their fox, unless the latter can be bolted forth- 

 with. An hour's wait during the digging out 

 would hardly be beneficial to hounds, especially 

 if the weather became inclement. When chill 

 November arrives and the regular season opens, 

 no longer are we compelled to rise in the middle of 

 the night to be with hounds, and each week makes 

 a difference once the leaves begin to fall. Un- 

 fortunately Nature ordained they should fall into 

 ditches, and a blind ditch leads to more dire 



disaster than a blind fence. Hedging and ditching, 



92 



