The Master and the Deputy-Master. 103 



Mastership. One method is to fix a sum per hunt- 

 ing-day, which will, of course, vary with the size 

 of the hunt territory, facilities for railway travel- 

 ling, lying-out, and so on. In one country ^5 per 

 hunting day may suffice; an £2> basis should more 

 than cover the most extravagant. Thus, taking an 

 average of ten hunting days a month for five months, 

 or fifty hunting days, at the lower rate ;£2 5o and at 

 the higher rate ;£400 should cover the total annual 

 expenditure. As a rule, with hounds stopped for 

 mowing-grass or by flood, a 15-couple pack will 

 hardly do fifty days in a season, even at '' two days 

 a week and an occasional bye," nor will ^£6 be 

 too little a sum to set against the expenses. Thus 

 for ;£3oo such a pack should be comfortably main- 

 tained without '' crabbing " its chances of showing 

 sport. 



In order still further to elucidate the point as to 

 the cost of keeping Otter-hounds, I have submitted a 

 number of balance-sheets of various packs, taken 

 almost at hazard, to a member of one of the most 

 distinguished firms of chartered accountants in 

 London, who has been kind enough to analyse six 

 of the most recent balance-sheets (those of the 

 seasons 1905 and 1906), representing six different 

 hunts in widely-different parts of the kingdom 

 — north, south, east, and west — ranging from 15 

 to 20 couples in strength, and including hunts 



