14 Horse and Hound, 



Osbaldeston sold Lord Middleton lo couples for 

 1,000 guineas, and refused 1,000 guineas for 5 

 choice hounds, including the famous Furrier. 



In this country, the largest packs are the 

 Orange County with 35, Meadowbrook 46, Rad- 

 nor 48, and Eatontown Hunt with 50 couples of 

 hounds. The average is about 10 couples, but 

 unfortunately there is no way of calculating the 

 total number of packs in the United States. I 

 am more familiar with the packs of Kentucky, 

 and think 100 packs would be a conservative es- 

 timate of the number in that State alone, being 

 an average of less than one to the county, and I 

 know of as many as a dozen in several different 

 counties. 



In this country, since the earliest days of 

 colonization, the sport of fox-hunting has thrived 

 with unflagging, in fact, increasing enthusiasm. 

 Our early ancestors, especially in Maryland, Vir- 

 ginia, and Kentucky, were devotees of the sport, 

 and every country gentleman owned his pack of 

 hounds and stable of horses; but the first organ- 

 ized hunt club, on the order of an English Hunt, 

 was in 1877, when ten couples of hounds were 

 imported and drag runs were made on Long 

 Island. They afforded probably more amuse- 

 ment to outsiders than to the participants, who 

 were caricatured and held up to ridicule by the 

 press and illustrated papers. However, this sport 

 found favor in the eyes and hearts of the riders 



