THE FIELD 113 



collectively. Thus many balance sheets show that men 

 who subscribe ^^40 or ^^^50 to the general fund of the 

 hunt will give an additional jC^ or ;^io to the damage 

 fund, or will pay the rent of a covert, after the fashion 

 which prevails in the Tynedale Hunt. There are mas- 

 ters, even of subscription packs, who are willing and 

 able to take over every liability which the hunt incurs, 

 and pay the difference between the subscription and 

 actual cost of everything; but it is not always the best 

 thing which can happen to a hunt to get hold of one of 

 these masters, for sometimes the mean ones give far 

 less than they ought to do, and no accounts can be 

 demanded of a master who takes a small subscription 

 and pays a huge difference out of his own pocket. 



Indeed, in these days the plan of keeping the cost of 

 maintenance of hounds and horses strictly to itself, and 

 of putting all extra expenditure into a separate account, 

 has much to commend it, but of course the arrange- 

 ments must vary according to local conditions. In one 

 country, for instance, the hounds may be maintained 

 by some magnate at his own expense, but even when 

 this state of affairs exists it is now usual to have damage 

 and poultry funds. Again, the master may ask for a 

 very small guarantee, and in that case the subscription 

 is smaller all round than it might be, but it is only 

 a few favoured countries which are absolutely inde- 

 pendent of financial trouble, and one far oftener hears 

 of a hunt being hard up than of one which can always be 

 sure of a surplus. Countries, naturally enough, vary 

 greatly, some being rich, others comparatively well off, 

 while others again are desperately poor. We know of 

 really good countries as far as sport is concerned, 

 countries which are good to ride over, and where foxes 

 are religiously preserved, while only a few hundreds 



