212 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



the height and size vary an uneven appearance is pre- 

 sented which, to the hound critic, is most distasteful. 



In a mixed pack of dogs and bitches it is of course 

 less easy to maintain a standard size, unless the dog- 

 hounds of a kennel are small and the bitches large. 

 When that happens the smaller dog-hounds and the 

 bigger bitches will be much of a size, and uniformity 

 can be achieved. But in a small, two-days-a-week 

 hunt, where something like an equal number of both 

 sexes are kept, a level mixed pack is rarely seen, simply 

 because not enough hounds are bred to ensure a level in 

 sexes. Then, too, it must be remembered that in hound- 

 breeding like throws like, and therefore if the bitches 

 of a kennel are big their dog-puppies will also be big, 

 and probably those which are entered will be at least an 

 inch and a half higher, and proportionately bigger all 

 over, than their mothers. But one is inclined to think 

 that in the case of a small mixed pack uniformity in 

 size is not a very important matter as long as both 

 dogs and bitches — either half of the pack, in fact — are 

 level. 



Again, even in a small establishment a very big or a 

 very little hound should be drafted, if any standard of 

 neatness is to be obtained. We have seen, years ago, 

 when hound-breeding was not attended to so carefully 

 as it now is, a great lashing 25-inch hound, and a 

 little, wriggling, 21-inch, harrier-like bitch contending 

 for the lead, each hunting with equal keenness. But 

 the sight of these two, and a pack behind them, in 

 which every type of hound was to be seen, was very 

 unsatisfactory, even if it had its comical side. '' I 

 expect you are laughing at my pack," said the master, 

 " but this is our first season, and they are all drafts, got 

 in a hurry at the eleventh hour." This explained the 



