FIRST-^HAND BITS OF STABLE LORE 



nervous old lady said, but plugging along to the 

 end, where six pounds of a bullock's neck seems 

 to afford them as much gratification and amuse- 

 ment as if they had run into the "little red rover" 

 himself A mixture of the two kinds never 

 proves satisfactory, and provides a pack which 

 spreads over a forty-acre field, some on the line, 

 and some yards and furlongs down-wind of it. 



Of course, after a time some (the majority) 

 of your " mottled darlings " will lose interest in 

 hunting, and will become quite worthless, save as 

 an addition to numbers. Generally these old 

 stagers are incorrigible, but occasionally (if 

 thought worth while) they may " come again " 

 if loaned to some sportsman for the winter who 

 shoots rabbits, etc. Worked on the " bunnies," 

 and allowed to kill and to taste fresh blood, some 

 of them will become keen again, but draft hounds 

 are so cheap and plentiful that it is rarely worth 

 while to bother. It is often possible to thus lend 

 your hounds, or some of them, to various farmers 

 who employ their leisure time in winter in shoot- 

 ing, and thereby the expense of keeping them is 

 saved to you, while, as you only run a drag, it is 

 quite immaterial what your charges fancy as long 

 as they leave sheep, calves, and chickens alone. 



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