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the incursion of harriers or beagles into fields which 

 hitherto they had been taught to regard as peculiarly 

 their own. Where hares are scarce, and the district 

 is used both by coursing-men and hare-hunters, there 

 must, necessarily, be friction. However, both factions 

 are sportsmen, and some modus vivendi has to be 

 found. I am inclined to think that, where hares are 

 inordinately plentiful, as they are in some districts 

 that I know of, harrier- and beagle-men are sometimes 

 unnecessarily jealous of coursers. In such a district 

 I am convinced that coursing does a great deal of 

 good. It tends to the keeping down of hares, which 

 are often a perfect nuisance to hounds and hunting, 

 by the frequent changing they necessitate and the 

 consequent exhaustion and dispiritment of the pack. 

 And it tends also to move and disperse hares, to give 

 them exercise, and make them yield better runs before 

 harriers. This is certainly the result of pretty close 

 observation of my own in certain parts of Sussex, 

 where hares are strongly preserved and over abundant. 

 There must, of course, be an understanding with 

 farmers and coursers that greyhounds, which are 

 more deadly in their pursuit than harriers or beagles, 

 shall not be too often out, so as not to diminish 

 seriously the stock of hares. AIL these are matters 

 of arrangement. Sportsmen, whatever their favourite 

 pursuit may be, are — if we except certain types of 

 pheasant-preservers — usually reasonable enough, and 

 hare-hunting and coursing can often go very well hand 

 in hand. For instance, I have hunted regularly these 

 last two seasons over a Sussex marsh, where, during 

 each week, harriers and greyhounds — of course, on 

 different days — enjoy magnificent sport. 



