THE FIELD 115 



living expenses out of the hunt. That many of them 

 got their hunting for nothing is fairly certain, but times 

 have changed, and what could be done fifty years ago 

 cannot be done now. In those days the master of a 

 subscription pack would have, say, ;^i5oofor three days 

 a week, and no damages of any description to make 

 good. Possibly, too, he had kennels and stables rent 

 free, having nothing to pay beyond wages, keep of 

 horses and hounds, and the incidental bills such as the 

 tailor, bootmaker, saddler, and blacksmith. By main- 

 taining as small a pack as possible, by bringing all the 

 hunt horses out at least three days a fortnight, by never 

 using a second horse for himself and his men, it was 

 possible, provided he was a good manager, to keep well 

 within the limit, and to bring the cost of his own 

 hunting into the ^^1500, but nowadays it is generally 

 reckoned that each day's hunting of the week costs a 

 thousand per annum. 



In other words a two-days-a-week pack will cost 

 ;^200Q per annum for maintenance, and so on. The 

 calculation is, however, an erroneous one in detail, for 

 it is certain that a pack hunting two days a week should 

 cost less proportionately than a pack which hunts three 

 days. In a two-days-a-week country a single pack of 

 hounds is required, while if hounds are out on three 

 days two packs are maintained. We need not go into 

 this question of cost, for so much depends upon man- 

 agement. One man will secure a bargain every time he 

 is in the market, whether it is for horses, hay, oats, or 

 meal for his hounds. Another man will always pay the 

 top price, and be sometimes swindled. Then, again, 

 one man hunts a country extravagantly, giving too 

 much for his own and servants' horses, and keeping far 

 too many. Some masters delight in a perfect army of 



