straight Talks on Hunt Stibscnptions 



help summering the country. If he is still further 

 encouraged I feel sure we should not hear so much 

 of deserted provincial countries. Let the M.F.H. 

 make use of the new blood ! Much of the new 

 blood is neutral, perhaps, to sport. Enthusiasm 

 that mostly consists of bluster is an unmitigated 

 nuisance. 



No doubt work as well as talk is a sine qua 

 non in every sport. It is easy to ride your 

 hobby-horse to death. The '^ new blood's" enthu- 

 siasm should be directed into the proper channels. 

 You may persuade tenant-farmers to preserve 

 foxes and remove wire, but it is no use badgering 

 them about it. Ask his opinion as a friend before 

 you buy a horse. You need not act upon his 

 advice ; but every farmer likes to be thought a good 

 judge of a horse. Flattery is often more efficacious 

 than straight talk to gain a desired end. 



However, Baily's '^ Foxhunting Directory " (5s.) 

 gives you a detailed list of all the packs in the 

 United Kingdom. 



Since the days of ^^Nimrod" and his contri- 

 butions re noble science of fox-hunting in general 

 to the Sporting Magazine, information about the 

 doings of various packs has multiplied exceedingly. 

 Even in Nimrod's days accounts of the runs were 

 tame at the end of a fortnight. One of the oldest 

 accounts of a hunting run is (so I gather), one 



penned in 1807 by the Hon. M. Hawke in the 



127 



