74 A HUNTING CATECHISM 



A. A " wire committee " must be formed 

 consisting both of subscribers and farmers, and 

 after the hunt has been divided into districts, a 

 subscriber should take charge of each, with two 

 or three farmers under him who reside there. It 

 is then their function to persuade their fellow- 

 farmers to take down their wire when it is not 

 required. If a piece has been forgotten and left 

 up during the hunting season, notice should be 

 sent at once to the head of the local committee, 

 who will either go himself, or send one of his 

 farmer assistants, to the owner of the wire with 

 a request for its removal. 



Q. How is earth-stopping carried out ? 



A, The old fashion of having an earth-stopper 

 belonging to the hunt is, alas ! no longer in exis- 

 tence, owing to the immense increase in preserv- 

 ing game, and, consequently, in gamekeepers ; 

 for the latter would not look with a friendly eye 

 upon a stranger coming into their coverts at night ! 

 A post-card is therefore now sent to each keeper 

 whose beat is within the next day's draw, and he 

 is answerable for stopping all the earths in that 

 beat. For each night's stop he receives a fee from 

 the hunt fund of half-a-crown. For each " find " 

 that follows, he gets five shillings. The keepers 

 are assembled at the end of the season, and must 

 bring their post-cards with them to verify their 

 claims, and they are then paid. 



Q. Do they also get a reward for each litter ? 

 A. They get £1. 



Q. How is the poultry fund managed ? 



A. Some members each take a district, with a 

 strong committee of farmers under them, similar 

 to the wire committee. When a claim is sent in 



