HOUND MANAGEMENT 193 



the large majority of, harrier packs this custom is, 

 however, not followed, and hounds run with their 

 ears as nature made them. Personally, I think a 

 hound, especially a harrier, looks much handsomer 

 with his ears unrounded. In some harrier countries, 

 however, where coverts are abundant and thorns 

 and gorse troublesome, rounding may be thought 

 necessary. But even among certain foxhound packs 

 of the present day, the hounds' ears are not rounded. 



The hours of exercise of a pack in summer are, of 

 course, considerably longer than in winter, when they 

 are hard at work. At this season they are more 

 usually walked. Two hours in the early morning 

 and the same in the evening are desirable. For get- 

 ting hounds into condition towards the hunting season, 

 and for the exercise of the hunting season itself, there 

 is nothing like road work, which hardens the feet and 

 renders the hound so much the more capable of resist- 

 ing the wear and tear of a long day of hunting over 

 all sorts of country. Bicycles are excellent things 

 to exercise hounds with ; the pace is more easily 

 regulated than with a horse, and the hounds encounter 

 less dust as they follow the huntsman or whip. Cycles 

 are also very valuable auxiliaries in the case of packs 

 of foot-harriers or beagles. The Hunt servants get 

 comfortably to the meet, and the hounds can be taken 

 along at a steady pace without pushing them too fast. 



For the purpose of getting hounds into shape, and 

 accustoming the young entry to the ways of hunting, 

 a few by-days will probably be taken in September. 

 By this process the pack will be a little more ship- 

 shape, and less inclined to riot and wildness, when it 

 makes its bow to the public at the first advertised 

 meet of the season, which usually takes place towards 

 the second or third week in October. At first 3^oung 



