284 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



that the harriers of an early period were light of bone, 

 anything but straight, and, as a rule, exceedingly 

 throaty. Then comes the question of whether hare- 

 hunting is better, or not so good as it was, and this is 

 a question about which the older generation of harrier 

 men will argue for ever and a day. Personally we 

 incline very strongly to the present fashion, deeming it 

 to be in every way more satisfactory to hunt with a 

 pack of hounds which are level, all of one type, and 

 as good-looking as possible. It is generally admitted 

 amongst connoisseurs of dogs generally that a perfect 

 foxhound is the most perfect dog in the world, the most 

 symmetrical and the freest from fault. The remark in 

 these days applies equally to the best harriers, which 

 are, in point of fact, foxhounds in miniature. There 

 are hound men present at Peterborough every summer 

 who are heard to say that, judged as individuals, the 

 pick of the winners in the larger harrier classes are 

 superior to the pick of the winners in the foxhound 

 classes. Into this we need not enter, but it can be 

 stated with confidence that the harriers from some of 

 the crack packs are just about as near perfection as 

 they well can be. Indeed, one is sometimes inclined to 

 think that to breed a perfect hound of twenty-one inches 

 is not quite such a difficult task as to breed one of three 

 inches higher, though it may be stated that it is no 

 easy matter to secure the exact height which is 

 aimed at. 



As regards the merits of the older sorts and the 

 modern hound few will dispute the fact that the old- 

 fashioned pure harrier, who had no foxhound blood in 

 him, had a better nose than the average so-called 

 harrier of the present day. He could own a stale line 

 or hunt a hare which had been gone half an hour or 



