144 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



But it is not only the difference in the sporting in- 

 stincts of the people that accounts for the greater 

 sway of hunting over there than here. The chief 

 reason why it flourishes with them, as it never can 

 with us, is because England's " infernal climate" is 

 just suited to it, and ours is not. After all, Ruskin 

 was right when he said, "There is no such thing as 

 bad weather; only different kinds of good weather," 

 and the rains, and fog and damp' that make the Ameri- 

 can shiver and shake in England, are the very things 

 that not only produce the wonderful green and springy 

 " galloping turf" for which the " right little, tight little 

 island " is famed, but also permit scent to lie in a way 

 that is impossible over here. 



American people are becoming more and more in- 

 terested in hunting, and the breeding of English as 

 well as American hounds is being gone into almost, 

 if not quite, as scientifically as abroad, but in spite of 

 all, hunting over here, much as Americans may resent 

 this bald statement, will, I am afraid, always be far 

 inferior to what it is over there. No matter how keen 

 Masters of the Fields may be, no matter how well- 

 bred the hounds and horses, the element of dampness, 

 so necessary to the highest attainment of the sport, 

 will always be lacking. 



Our dry hot climate is far better suited to the game 

 of polo, at which we are rapidly excelling all other 

 nations, than it is for hunting. And one day I think 

 polo will be as much of a national institution with us 

 as hunting is in England and Ireland. 



For those persons intending to hunt abroad, I would 

 suggest that if they want to have a successful sea- 

 son they make their arrangements well beforehand. 

 Horses and rooms at Melton Mowbray, Market Har- 



