TRAINING, AND GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 1 89 



Scotland, and i8 in Ireland, or 184 in all; loi packs 

 of harriers in England, 4 in Scotland, and 34 in Ireland, 

 or 139 in all; and 16 packs of beagles in England and 

 2 in Ireland, or 18 in all. This made up a total of 

 355 packs, exclusive of several which failed to make 

 their existence known; and this season the total is 

 350, comprising 14 packs of staghounds, 177 of fox- 

 hounds, 139 of harriers, and 20 of beagles. It will be 

 seen that the number of staghound and harrier packs 

 has not varied, for though several old packs of harriers 

 have been given up, just as many fresh ones have been 

 formed. The decrease has taken place among fox- 

 hounds, for while no new pack appears to have been 

 formed, two or three have been given up in England, 

 one in Scotland, and three in Ireland, and it is not 

 altogether a sufficient compensation to find that there 

 are two more packs of beagles than there were last 

 season. Still, there is no reason to feel doubt as to 

 the future of fox hunting, when the records of it tell 

 us that there are now 177 packs as compared with 170 

 four and 165 ten years ago. 



" What does hunting do for Great Britain ? That's 

 a big question, and upon its answer depends also the 

 answer to the question which I am continually putting 

 to myself: Am I throwing away the best years of my 

 life, my money, and my brains, in what is good for my 

 country ? or is the contrary the case ? Now, let us 

 take mine, a four-day a week country, just for the sake 



