Hounds at Work 



of kings that it would be mere redundancy 

 for me to say more here, but perhaps a few 

 words upon the economic aspect may not be 

 out of place. The upkeep of a pack is a 

 costly affair when we take into consideration 

 the staff of hunt servants, the large stud of 

 horses necessary, the provision of compen- 

 sation to farmers, stopping earths, etc., in 

 addition to the actual maintenance of the 

 hounds themselves. You will read of Masters 

 being guaranteed a minimum of 2000 a 

 year, and it is doubtful if this would meet 

 all the outlay. "Nimrod," in The Chace, 

 which first appeared in 1832, quotes a 

 contemporary writer as estimating the 

 annual cost of a pack at 2235, and he 

 declares that in the best establishments at 

 that period very little was left out of 4000 

 per year. Then we have to remember the 

 expenses of the followers of the hunt, com- 

 puting the cost of a stud of hunters and the 

 money spent on railway fares, hotel bills, 

 hunting boxes, etc., and we can arrive at a 



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