Fox-hunting Past and Present 



woman pays £^o for a young sound hunter, 

 and the '^made" hunter in his ^' third," ^^ fourth," 

 or "fifth" season at auction seldom goes below 

 £^0 ; and those who go to Tattersall's or follow 

 the auction sales at the chief marts know full 

 well these horses realise from ;£2oo to £^oo 

 apiece. To gauge the price of the raw material, 

 a few young horses at any of our leading dealers' 

 yards should be priced. Supposing a hunting- 

 man has the time and the desire to ''make "his 

 own hunters, the raw material can be purchased 

 at a fair price, at, say, three or four years of age. 

 A good field for this speculation lies (or did lie) 

 among the farms and fairs of Ireland. 



A farmer can almost always dispose of a young 

 horse of hunter stamp without much difficulty, 

 but he has to part to the dealer at a lower price 

 than to the hunting-man. To revert to the 

 200,000 horses I mentioned above, if there were 

 no use for them the markets for them and their 

 fodder would be weakened. If hunting were to 

 cease or die out, the country districts would 

 languish. Country houses would be closed, and 

 much money would be spent in London and on 

 the Continent. The farmer is most affected by 

 the presence of the resident hunting-folk and 

 visitors. The small country towns would also 

 feel the depression. Without entering too fully 



into the subject, the meat, milk, and grain markets 



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