LETTER VI. 65 



chief than good : draft him at once. A whipper-in has 

 no right to strike a hound out of cover, much less when 

 flying to his huntsman for protection. His presence 

 ought to be his security. If young hounds will not come 

 out of cover when called by the huntsman, it is the busi- 

 ness of the whipper-in to go into the covert and drive 

 them out; not stand outside hallooing, that his musical 

 voice may be heard. 



In cub hunting there is no necessity to eat up a whole 

 litter of cubs at once, as I knew a famous Leicestershire 

 huntsman boast of doing. One or two at most are quite 

 sufficient to kill in one day. Young foxes will often get 

 tired altogether, after the hounds have been running and 

 changing them for an hour or two. There is no merit in 

 killing them then ; therefore, when your hounds have 

 caught one, after an hour's work, take them home. 

 That is quite sufficient for the first day. After the 

 young hounds have been out two or three, times, and 

 begin to know their game, you may then take them to 

 large woodlands, where they will have mor^e work to do. 

 The more they scratch their faces, the better they will 

 turn out in the end. By hunting the large coverts 

 during the months of August and September, you will 

 not only break your young hounds in, but foxes will fly 

 from them in the season and give you better chases. 

 Every litter of foxes, however, should have a turn before 

 October. It will teach them to get out of the way of 

 shooters and their dogs, and make them seek other 

 places of refuge. 



It has been asserted by some masters of foxhounds, 

 that main earths being generally known to poachers as 

 well as keepers and earth stoppers, are unsafe places for 



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