i6o Cross Country with Horse and Hound 



Any one of these defects is almost certain to draft a hound 

 without even a trial in the field. Passing the examination 

 for these defects is like passing the masonic *' first degree." 

 Out of one hundred puppies that come in from their 

 "walks" from thirty-five to forty per cent, are thus drafted, 

 and of these first-draft youngsters some are killed at once. 

 In doing this, to be sure, the huntsman or master may be 

 destroying some of the best working hounds of the pack, 

 or the best in breeding, and it takes a bit of courage to kill 

 a fine upstanding youngster because he is badly formed in 

 some essential. Occasionally a drafted hound of very 

 superior breeding is given a chance of a field trial; but he 

 is half doomed to start with, and unless he should prove 

 himself something above the average in field work, he 

 would be the first to go in the second draft. 



It would seem that after hounds had passed such rigid 

 examinations as the above they were entitled to admission 

 without more ado. The hardest examination, the supreme 

 test, however, is still to come. The first draft was by a 

 standard of ** Handsome is that perfect is." The second 

 test is " Handsome is that handsome does," and elevates the 

 candidate from a dog to a hound. The hound that is 

 finally found good enough to become a member of this 

 most aristocratic family must be : 



Not too tall or too short;* 



* Twenty-three or twenty-four inches is the standard. If a hound is over that 

 he IS classed as a staghound and is in demand for packs that chase the stag or hunt 

 the wild deer. If below that standard he finds his way into the harrier packs. 

 The beagle hounds are still smaller than the harriers, and are used to hunt the hare 

 on foot. They are nevertheless members of the foxhound family, the difference 

 being principally in size. 



