BREAKING UP EARTHS 69 



but whatever motive induced him to do it, it was 

 certainly a most extraordinary proceeding. 



Seeing how much the nature of foxes is regulated by 

 their mode of living, it becomes a matter of interest to 

 inquire to what extent those habits may be cultivated 

 so as to insure sport. To effect this I am quite of 

 opinion that if all the breeding earths were to be broken 

 up foxes would be wilder and stouter. There are, I am 

 aware, many masters of hounds who are opposed to 

 this course from reasons which I will explain. There 

 is, however, a medium practice which might be resorted 

 to, probably with benefit ; namely, that of stopping the 

 main earths as soon as hunting commences, and of 

 keeping them stopped till the vixens are about to lay 

 up their cubs. I believe Mr. T. Smith was the first to 

 propose this plan, and likewise to put it in operation ; 

 and the success which attended him as a master of 

 hounds during the number of years which he hunted 

 the Craven, the Hambledon, and other countries, is a 

 guarantee for the soundness of his doctrines. The 

 custom has been adopted also in the Vine Hunt and 

 other parts of Hampshire. 



With reference to the plan of destroying all the main 

 earths, I must observe that in the Oakley country the 

 foxes are all ' stub-bred ones,' which I know from the 

 authority of two gentlemen who hunted that country, 

 both of whom agree that they are uncommonly stout 

 and ' take a great deal of killing.' If foxes breed and 

 thrive above ground in one country they will do so in 

 another; and many advantages would arise from the 

 system. In the first place, fox-stealers would not be 

 so readily enabled to get at the cubs, because they 

 would experience difficulty in finding them after they 

 have attained an age when they are capable of feeding 

 themselves; and it would be useless to take them 

 before that time when the object is to transport them 

 into another country. Fortunately the day has gone 

 by when persons would desire to take them for the 

 purpose of absolute destruction. The fox-stealing 



