CLIPPING HOESES. 251 



CLIPPING HOESS. 



The process of clipping has long been so well under- 

 stood that any description of it is quite unnecessary, 

 and more so as, within the last few years, singeing 

 has superseded it. The artificially shortening the 

 coat was, I beUeve, first practised in Leicestershire, 

 and that thirty-five years since, it gradually crept 

 into general use, and cracked heels, inflamed lungs, 

 swollen legs, and broken wind was the frequent re- 

 sult, people seeming to forget, or not to consider, that 

 a process that was quite proper, extremely desira- 

 ble, and a source of comfort to a hunter whose body 

 was never exposed to the cold air without his body- 



