SCIENCE OF FOXHUNTING. 9 



under bis own observation ; but of old pedigrees 

 and performances he knows nothing ; or why 

 Chorister has been mated with Dorcas — in his 

 opinion, perhaps, a very poor cross. 



We were conversing not very long since with 

 the first whipper-in to one of the oldest packs of 

 foxhounds in England, and in allusion to his 

 huntsman — a man of the highest celebrity as a 

 breeder, then far advanced in years — we expressed 

 our anticipations of his becoming a brilliant star 

 also, under such superior tuition. 



" As to field business, sir," he replied, " I have 

 had a capital master, but as to breeding and kennel 



management, Mr. S is very chary of giving 



me the least information — to speak plainly, he is 

 very jealous of me as likely to succeed him/' 



This whipper-in is now huntsman, and we have 

 had no opportunity, since his promotion, of judging 

 personally whether his talents have been equal to 

 the responsibilities in this new situation. That 

 very clever whippers-in do not invariably turn out 

 clever huntsmen, is a truism needing no repetition. 

 As to breeding foxhounds which shall stand the 

 trial of three or four seasons, that is, as we have 

 before stated, a very difficult matter ; and we have 

 known many of the very cleverest huntsmen, 

 gentlemen, as well as professional men of world- 

 wide reputation in the field, who have signally 

 failed in the stud. Some of these have bred 

 extensively — too much so — sending out from fifty 

 to eighty couples of whelps annually, and putting 

 forward about twenty couples for the next season's 



