78 SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



should be selected — almost whole grits, which, 

 although requiring more labour in boiling, proves 

 the most nutritious food. The manufacture of this 

 meal is little understood in England, and less prac- 

 tised ; yet the process is a very simple one. The 

 oats, having been first dried on a kiln, are passed 

 lightly through the mill to disengage tlie husks — 

 then winnowed clean from all chaff and dust, and 

 ground coarsely or fine, according to the demand. 

 For foxhounds, this meal ought to be hvelve ononths 

 old before used ; for, when new, we have found it to 

 disagree with them, and not stand firm after boil- 

 ing. There is great economy in having an old 

 stock on hand, a practice generally adopted in all 

 large hunting establishments. It goes much farther, 

 and pays well for keeping. We had large bins, 

 or rather wooden compartments, in our granary, 

 into which the meal was trodden down by men, 

 and then battened ; and thus stored it would keep 

 good for two years, if not wanted before. 



In boiling, great attention is necessary that it 

 does not catch at the bottom of the boiler, which 

 ought to be of iron — not of copper or brass. We 

 had a careless feeder once, who might have lost his 

 life by negligence in this matter ; the meal, from 

 not being stirred, stuck to the bottom, causing the 

 boiler to burst with a loud explosion, and throw 

 the scalding pudding all over the boiling-house, 

 which the feeder had just left. " The proof of the 

 pudding is in the eating," and unless well boiled 

 for an hour at least, it will neither keep longer than 

 a day, nor take the proper allowance of broth to 



