26 MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS. 



but the offspring of old bitches will be generally small 

 and light of bone. A famous breeder of race horses once 

 said of a favourite mare, that it was of no consequence 

 what horse she was put to, for she always produced a 

 winner. This is not the case with hounds ; they follow 

 the character and shape of their sire as much as their 

 mother, and if there is any peculiarity about him, it will 

 generally be seen in his descendants. 



You need not pay much attention to speed, which is 

 thought too much of in the present day. All hounds go 

 fast enough, but a fast hound and a quick one are widely 

 different. I would rather breed from a good hound who 

 always kept a fair place in the pack, without exhibiting 

 himself too much in front. We have plenty of dash and 

 flash in the foxhound already, and at times too much of 

 it for sport. When a fox turns short, he is often lost by 

 those dashing gentlemen going over the scent by half a 

 mile or so. When foxes are plentiful you can of course 

 go and draw for another, and lose him perhaps in the 

 same way. 



As soon as your brood bitches become at all heavy 

 they should be removed from the kennel, and put into 

 the paddock intended for bitches and their whelps. In 

 my plan for kennels there are two low sheds, on^ facing 

 the south the other the west, for this purpose. The 

 larger you can afford to make this paddock the better, 

 but if the bitches can roam at large, it is far preferable for 

 them, than being confined within ever so large a place. 

 Air and exercise will greatly contribute to the health of 

 the mother and her offspring, and if possible the brood 

 bitches should always have their liberty, care being taken 

 that they are shut up before the evening. To prevent 



