HOUND BREEDING. 25 



taken great pains to bring It to Its present very 

 satisfactory state. If you can only get this blood, 

 you can settle down to breed hounds with some 

 degree of certainty. 



I myself believe that in future years the prejudice 

 that now exists against the pure foxhound blood In 

 the Harrier Stud Book will gradually disappear, after 

 the hounds so bred have been hunting hare for 

 several generations. Surely a hound will have the 

 right to be called a harrier If he can ow^n to several 

 generations of hare-hunting ancestors. 



Then again, In time, the drive that is essential to 

 a foxhound, but out of place on a bad scenting day 

 when hunting hare, will more or less disappear, or be 

 less prominent than formerly, perchance be only 

 latent, and we shall get a hound as near perfection 

 in shape as can be bred, with all the qualities neces- 

 sary to hunt a hare. 



Some masters, if I may say so, are Inclined to be 

 a little close as far as their kennel Is concerned. 

 When an opportunity offers to purchase some really 

 good blood, they say they do not care to go to the 

 expense. Surely this Is a mistake, as the oppor- 

 tunity might not occur again. These same men do 

 not find it difficult to give ;^l5o for a hunter! My 

 contention is that horses are simply a matter of 

 money, and can always be bought, but hounds are 

 not — they must be bred. 



Countries differ greatly in many respects, and 



