148 HACKS AND HUNTERS 



decide little; both sides still hold to their respective 

 opinions. One thing, however, is quite certain, that 

 as yet the American hound does not breed true to 

 type. Mr. Charles Mather's statement that "the 

 American hound is not a distinct breed" may pos- 

 sibly be disputed by many hunting men, but it re- 

 mains a fact, nevertheless, that as a "pack" and 

 irrespective of their hunting abilities, the motley as- 

 sortment of ill-matched, rather scrawny and cringing 

 American hounds compares but ill with the upstand- 

 ing, evenly matched, piebald beauties which consti- 

 tute an English pack, and which have been bred for 

 generations and generations, not alone for their hunt- 

 ing abilities, but also for perfect color, markings, and 

 symmetry of shape.* 



Comparisons are odious, and since I have already 

 given so many perhaps I should not go on to say that 

 the next difference between an English or Irish meet 

 and an American one is its size. The average field 

 of the Quorn, Belvoir, or Pytchley, in England, or the 

 Meath, Kildere, or Ward Union, in Ireland, would 

 make an election-day crowd of 150 at Meadow Brook 

 look small. Excepting for the inspiring sight that it 

 presents, however, I think that most hunting people 

 will agree that a big field is, perhaps, a disadvantage 

 rather than the reverse. In such large crowds, the 

 necessity of getting a good start is not only merely 

 advisable, but absolutely imperative, if one wishes to 

 see anything of the run. 



If you want to be well accepted in an English field, 



* The only packs of native American foxhounds which compare at 

 all favorably as regards color and symmetry, are the ring-necked 

 Madison hounds of the Orange County Hunt, The Plains, Va., those 

 of the Grafton Hunt, and the hounds belonging to Mr. Joseph Thomas. 



