SYSTEM OF KENNEL 



AND 



SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING, 



CHAPTER I. 



SIRES AND DAMS. 



The Arcana of breeding Foxhounds — Quality to be regarded before 

 quantity — Sires and Dams of approved chai'acters — Breeding 

 judiciously versus breeding extensively — Jasper a case in point : 

 — " Quo semel est imbuta recens " — The author of " The Noble 

 Science " and the Quagga — Mulish facts are stubborn facts — 

 Symmetrical proportions — Heads before tails— John Ward's 

 opinion on large " knowledge -boxes " — The late Squire of Ted- 

 worth and Soloman — Shoulders and hind-quarters — Field and 

 kennel huntsman — "Nemo est ex omni parte beatus." 



One of the most difficult tasks devolving on hunts- 

 men to foxhounds, consists in the proper selection 

 of Sires and Dams, for the purpose of maintaining 

 the pack in its integrity and efficiency. In very 

 large kennels, a corresponding number of whelps 

 are annually produced, and to ensure a good-look- 

 ing entry, many bitches are used as mothers before 

 their characters have become thoroughly developed 

 in the field. This is, to say the least of it, a very 

 bap-hazard mode of proceeding, yet is such a prac- 

 tice too prevalent where draft-hounds are cou- 



B 



