HARRIERS. 97 



believe he would soon aceiuire this particular instinct. The 

 size of the harrier is to a large extent a matter of taste ; in 

 many instances a hound of eighteen inches or thereabouts will 

 do his work and kill hares every whit as well as a larger one, and 

 can go quite fast enough to make horses gallop ; but where much 

 heavy clay ploughed land has to be crossed, where high walls 

 have to be surmounted, or where long distances have to be 

 travelled to and from the scene of operations, a larger hound will 

 be found more satisfactory, and one approaching twenty inches, 

 or, in some cases, even a little more, will do his work with 

 greater ease and comfort both to himself and his master. 

 Now, having secured our wished- for qualities of nose and hare- 

 hunting instinct, the important question of make and shape 

 comes to be considered. A sloping shoulder will last longer 

 than a straight one, and a round, compact foot will wear out 

 one which is spread open and ' down at heel ' ; depth of back 

 ribs and plenty of bone show a good constitution and staying 

 power, and let us have legs as straight as we can get them ; 

 all these points have been secured in the foxhound by 

 careful breeding for generations, and we cannot do better 

 than imitate an example which has produced such a 

 beautiful animal as the modern foxhound undoubtedly is. 

 To obtain this desired improvement in the appearance, 

 which, after all, simply means the working powers, of the 

 harrier, we need not now have recourse to foxhound kennels ; 

 for, owing to the large infusion of foxhound blood in 

 the Harrier Stud-book, we can make use of hounds which, 

 although closely allied to pure foxhound blood, are yet 

 descended from hare-hunting parents, and so are on the high 

 road to acquiring that hereditary hare-hunting instinct which is 

 so valuable. Finally, let the master of harriers jealously pre- 

 serve his old hare-hunting blood ; but let him also bear in mind 

 that shapely necks and shoulders, straight legs and good feet 

 will carry a good nose faster and farther than a clumsy con- 

 figuration, that to the joys of the actual pursuit in the field 



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