MODERN HARRIERS 9^ 



coping with. But while advocating a strong cross 

 of foxhound blood, I would by no means lose that of 

 the harrier altogether ; keep it as much as you can ; 

 the hereditary instinct of hare-hunting must be worth 

 something. My own ideal pack of harriers, suitable, 

 be it understood, for a country fit to ride to hounds 

 in, would be composed of hounds as near twenty inches 

 as I could get them, as perfectly shaped as possible, 

 which means as much like a foxhound as can be, 

 but a little lighter in build, to show their harrier 

 ancestry. Keeping down the size is the great trouble ; 

 you are constantly finding your nicest puppies too 

 big for you, and the temptation to keep them is 

 great. 



" Some people may think that even the size I name 

 is too large ; but I find that, if you want your hounds 

 to get away from horses, twenty inches is none too 

 big, and, at the end of the day, if you have a long 

 journey home, hounds of that size will come cheerfully 

 along with their sterns up, at a good pace, when smaller 

 ones tire and make the miles much longer than they 

 need be. Personally, I began with eighteen-inch 

 hounds, which were then my ideal ; now my pack 

 runs up to twenty-one inches, which suits me well ; 

 but I should like them better still if they were one 

 inch smaller. However, I have been twenty years 

 breeding them to what they are, and if I had twenty 

 years more they might be no nearer my ideal than 

 they are now, nay, perhaps further off ; for it is much 

 harder to keep a pack at a certain pitch than to get 

 it there. In conclusion, my ideas, I know, will not 

 be acceptable to all who may read this ; but I will 

 offer one piece of advice without hesitation, and that 

 is, to make up your mind as to what type of hound you 

 want, and go at it as hard as you can. You will not 



