54 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



gorsed hurdles placed in a wire fence, in the North 

 Staffordshire country, and since then we have seen a 

 variety of what are usually spoken of as invitation 

 jumps ; but when these are in vogue it is absolutely 

 necessary that they should be looked at, and mended 

 if necessary, after hounds have been over the ground, 

 for if a hundred horses jump at even a low fence, the 

 fence is almost certain to be damaged, while if the 

 ground happens to be soft, it will be badly poached on 

 either side of the jump. 



The hunting wicket is not so convenient when fields 

 are large, and causes more delay, especially when the 

 wind is high and the gate swings back every time it 

 is opened ; but it is of the greatest use, especially in 

 a boundary fence between two farms, where very often 

 the obstacle has been so built up that it will either 

 pound a whole field or be worked into two or three 

 gaps, each of them big enough to drive a coach and 

 four through. 



One of the best and simplest ways to deal with the 

 wire question is to divide the hunt into so many 

 districts, and to appoint certain residents in each 

 district as members of a wire committee. Care must 

 be exercised in choosing men of tact, who will be able, 

 or at least will have a fair chance of being able, to 

 conciliate any irreconcilables there may be in any 

 district, and hunting men who live on the spot, and 

 are not too much away from home, should, if possible, 

 be chosen ; but the best thing of all is to have a com- 

 mittee which is largely composed of tenant farmers, 

 who, whether they are hunting men or not, are kindly 

 disposed to the hunt. When a country is so divided 

 and things work smoothly, it will be found that wire 

 does not increase, that there is no difficulty in marking 



