statistics of the Present Day 



would become most depressed. I may incidentally 

 add that the most prosperous country places are 

 those best served by market and transit. The 

 closing of country houses after the shooting season 

 would be a heavy financial loss to both tenant- 

 farmers and their landlords. 



Statistics are dry reading. These, however, are 

 a few for the present season. Among the stag- 

 hounds, the Berks and Bucks, the Devon and 

 Somerset, the Enfield Chase, and in Ireland the 

 Co. Down, have new masters ; the Devon and 

 Somerset, and South Westmeath changed to fox. 

 Lord Ribblesdale was welcomed as a new-comer, 

 and two hunts dropped out. Two packs, the 

 Berks and Bucks and Lord Ribblesdale's, both 

 have joint-masters. 



As regards the English and Welsh packs of 

 foxhounds, Mr. H. W. Wells', Mr. W. B. Part- 

 ridge's, and Mr. W. Gordon Canning's, the Afonwy, 

 Llangammarch, and the Brecon make up the 

 new packs instead of the Thurstonfield and 

 Mr. Scrope's. The amalgamated countries were 

 Cheshire, The Hambledon, Earl Fitzwilliam's, and 

 Viscount Galway's. A pack that changed its name 

 was the Stevenstone owing to the lamented death 

 of the Hon. Mark Rolle. New masters had to 

 be found for sixteen packs. Among them the most 

 important were the Cheshire, Cottesmore, and 

 Essex and Suffolk ; while partnerships were dis- 



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