2 HOUNDS. 



nowadays as formerly, but there is a smaller 

 percentage who have a claim to that title. 



(I.) FOXHOUNDS. 



I propose to divide foxhounds into two classes, 

 viz., hounds bred from fashionable strains of blood, 

 and the others. What is the real meaning of fashion- 

 able blood ? My definition is — A hound which for 

 six or seven successive generations, on both his sire's 

 and dam's side, possesses ancestors of the best 

 strains of blood, that have each been the pick in 

 work, pedigree, and make and shape of their 

 respective kennels. 



It is a well-known fact that but very few kennels 

 possess such hounds, but one pack, as all houndmen 

 agree, stands entirely by itself in this respect — the 

 Belvoir. 



Has it not been iruly said : '' Some kennels have 

 two or three stallion hounds, but Belvoir can show 

 you twenty." Given a stallion hound bred as I have 

 tried to describe, and mate him with a bitch whose 

 breeding is as good, is it not reducing the chance 

 of breeding worthless hounds to a minimum ? The 

 mistake, if I may say so, is often made of putting a 

 bitch of inferior blood to a good stallion hound. 

 What is the result ? You may have luck, but the 

 chances are small. If you do get a couple out of 

 the litter good, you have always got the bad streak 

 of blood, which is sure sooner or later to show itself 



