THE LIFE OF A SPORTSMAN 



the course of the season, have a very good effect in preventing 

 bWnk days. However, to make assurance doubly sure when 

 . mer ofcubs is known to be on dangerous^ ground et them 

 te o -ed by stinking the mouth of the earth, when the vjxen 

 wil cirry them off. As to purel,asing foxes tha expedient 

 Teed nolbe resorted to in your country: it .s a l,ad system 

 altoo-ether the greater part of them benig mangy. 



Draw your covers closely, especially those oi gorse. with 

 l^iavv you ,, T l.nvp seen foxes left m them, 



which your country abounds. I have seen lo.xes , 



7re<,ucntly. after hounds have been drawing for at least halt 

 an lour They lie very close in such places and. even when 

 L d are ofte^ difficult'to force out of them, by -~;^« 

 .rround becoming stained, if a ring or two is taken. Be sure 

 you do not omit drawing your outlying covers -fulaa- y a 

 stated periods of the season, and always throw oft near the 

 ptce fix 1. It may not matter to many of your held whether 

 not they may have to trot away four or five miles before 

 you be'in drawing; but farmers and others, who have v ry 

 Bhl studs-perhrps only one hunter-are much disconihted 

 by it A brother master of hounds fixes for three weeks in 

 Xance. which renders his hunt popular; but it is not every 



pountrv that will admit of it. 



Should you have occasion to make goi^e covei-s. observe 

 thes^ hints tLm one who has made many. The ground is all 

 the bet er for bein<. trenched to the depth of from a foot to a 

 o t :!^ a half; and it should be made - <?7 -^J"„.- 

 good condition as if it were to be the seed-bed »£ -"^P- 

 The seed should also be minutely examined, "s it often ta^s 

 from having lost its germinating properties; and it should be 

 drilled in tlie ground'and hoed after the manner o^ a turn^ 

 crop By keeping it clean by the hoe. it w 11. if the seed be 

 3 and the'land made dry. often hold a fox in the second 

 ^ear but will seldom fail in the third. A bi-other master of 

 C^nds recommends sowing broom with goi.e. "" ^^ 's wi^ig 

 it bein.r decidedly inin.ical to scent. All ar ihc.allj made 

 cov sdiould be not nearer than half a mile, at the least, to any 

 house or village; and if on a gently sloping tank, facing the 

 south or south-west, foxes will like them the better. 



Bred up as you have been, it is scarcely necessary to 

 remim you'of your general conduct towards your held, coin- 

 poTed, as it will be, of some of the first sportsmen ni the 



