HORSES AND HOUNDS. 87 



fhysical deficiency could not stand quite so hard a day's work, 

 gave one of these hounds to a friend, in whose kennel he re- 

 mained many years, and he said he Avould do more work up to 

 a certain time than any five couples he liad. From another of 

 these hounds I again bred, and Lis stock was straight on their 

 legs and clever. It is a generally received opinion t])at like 

 begets like, but colour, sliape, and disposition will often run 

 back (as huntsmen term it) to generations that are passed. For 

 many years I had a favourite sort of black and white hounds 

 with tanned faces ; but on one occasion a perfectly white whelp 

 made its appearance. Looking back for an explanation of this 

 X»henomenon, I found that her great grandmother had been also 

 white. 



Fox-hounds, if well bred, will give little trouble in breaking, 

 and there is not much fear of their turning out well afterwards. 

 Those who breed largely are nearly sure of a fine looking entry 

 of 3'oung hounds ; but those who breed with caution and judg- 

 ment will have the best pack of hounds. Nothing injures a 

 pack more than the failure of the two-seasoned hunters. The 

 first season young hounds do not often exhibit their real cha- 

 racters ; but in the second, if there is anything amiss in the 

 pedigree, it will generally come out. Be therefore very careful 

 in selecting stallions for your bitches; choose those of well- 

 tried good character, good drawers, quick hunters, and hard 

 workers, but never use a flashy hound, and never put an old 

 dog to an old bitch. A young bitch will often produce a fine 

 litter of whelps from an old dog, but the ofispring of old bitches 

 will be generally small and light of bone. A famous breeder 

 of race-horses once said of a favourite mare, that it was of no 

 consequence what horse she was put to, for she always produced 

 a winner. This is not the case with hounds ; they follow the 

 character and shape of their sire as much as their mother, and 

 if there is any peculiarity about him, it will generally be seen 

 in his descendants. 



You need not pay much attention to speed, which is thought 

 too much of in the present day. All hounds go fast enough, 

 but a fast hound and a quick one are widely difterent. I would 

 rather breed from a good hound who always kept a fair place 

 in the pack, without exhibiting himself too much in front. 

 We have plenty of dash and flash in the fox-hound already, and 

 at times too much of it for sport. When a fox turns short, he 

 is often lost by those dashing gentlemen going over the scent 

 by half a mile or so. When foxes are plentiful, you can, of 

 course, go and draw for another, and lose him perhaps in the 

 same way. 



